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:^rof?7h^ 


^/officalSs'5:^ 


moiJ^QaM^   Ji^auKd?,  1798 

1875. 
An  ecclesiastical  biographj 


I 


AN 


ECCLESIASTICAL   BIOGRAPHY, 


CONTAINING  THE 


Etbes  of  Ancient  jFati^ers  antr  iWolrem  Hibtnes, 


IXTERSPEBSED  WITH  NOTICES  OF 


HERETICS  AND  SCKISIUXATICS, 


A    BEIEF   HISTORY    OF   THE    CHUECH    IN    EVERY   AGE. 


BY 

/ 

WALTER  FARQUHAR   HOOK,   D.D., 

VICAR  OF  LEEDS. 


VOL.  III. 


LONDON : 

F,    AND    J.    RIVINGTON  ; 

PARKER,  OXFORD  ;    J.  AND  J.  J.  DEIGHTON,  CAMBRIDGE 

T.  HARRISON,  LEEDS. 

1847. 


Leeds:  G.  Crawsliaw,  Printer. 


PREFACE. 


In  the  Third  Volume  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Biography, 
the  reader  will  find  an  account 

Of  the  Church  of  England  before  the  Refor- 
mation, in  the  Lives  of  Archbishops  Bourchier, 
Bradvvardine,  and  Chichele,  which  are  given  in 
some  detail : 

Of  the  Reformation  in  Ireland,  in  the  Life  of 
Archbishop  Browne : 

Of  the  Foreign  Reformation,  in  the  Lives  of 
Bucer,  Carolostadt,  Calvin,  Bugenhagius,  Bul- 
linger : 

Of  a  Martyr,  in  the  Life  of  Bradford : 

Of  the  Nonjurors,  in  the  Lives  of  Brett,  Brokesby, 
Carte : 

Of  the  Romanists,  in  the  Lives  of  Bourne,  Cajetan, 
Campegio,  Cam  pi  an  : 

Of  Dissent,  in  the  Lives  of  Brown  and  Cartwright : 


Of  the  Puritans  and  Presbyterians,  in  the  Lives 
of  Barges,  Burton,  Cameron,  Cant,  Cargill, 
Cheynell  : 

Of  Divines,  in  the  Lives  of  Bishop  Bull,  Archbishop 
Bramhall,  Bishop  Burnet,  Bishop  Brownrigg, 
Bishop  Buckeridge,  Bishop  Butler,  Dr.  Brevint, 
Dr.  Busby,  Archbishop  Boulter. 

It  was  intended  to  include  in  this  Volume  the 
Lives  of  St.  Chrysostom,  St.  Cyprian,  and  St.  Cyril, 
together  with  that  of  Archbishop  Cranraer,  but  as 
these  Lives  occupy  a  considerable  space,  they  will  be 
found  in  the  early  Parts  of  the  Fourth  Volume. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    BIOGRAPHY. 


BOSTON,    JOHN. 

John  Boston,  a  monk  of  St.  Edmund's  Burj  in  the  14th 
century,  was  one  of  the  first  collectors  of  the  lives  of  Eng- 
lish writers,  in  which  he  preceded  Leland,  Bale,  and  Pitts. 
His  diligence  was  uncommonly  great,  and  besides  this 
biographical  work,  he  wrote  "  Speculum  ccenobitarum," 
in  which  he  gives  a  history  of  monachism.  This  was 
printed  by  Hall  at  Oxford  in  17"22,  8vo.     His  work  "  De 

rebus  Ccenobii  sui"  has   been   lost. Tanner.     Fuller's 

Worthies. 


BOSTON,    THOMAS. 

Thomas  Boston  was  bom  at  Dunse,  in  1676,  and  was 
educated  at  Edinburgh.  In  the  year  1696  he  kept  a  school 
at  Glencairn,  and  there  became  tutor  in  a  gentleman's 
family  till  1699,  when  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  the 
same  year  was  ordained  as  pastor  of  Simprin.  In  1707  he 
removed  to  Ettrick,  where  he  remained  till  his  death  in 
1732.  He  devoted  many  years  of  his  life  to  the  study  of 
Hebrew,  and  wrote  a  learned  treatise  in  Latin  concerning 
Hebrew  accents.  But  he  is  better  known  by  his  "Four- 
fold State,"  and  his  "  Body  of  Divinity,"  which  are  said 
to  be  highly  esteemed  among  presbyterians.  He  left  a 
memoir  of  his  own  life,  which  was  printed  in  1776. 

VOL.  III.  A 


BOUCHER. 


BOTT,    THOIVIAS. 


Thomas  Bott  was  born  at  Derby  in  1688,  and  became  a 
presbjterian  preacher  at  Spalding,  in  Lincolnshire.  Not 
liking  his  situation,  at  the  end  of  queen  Anne's  reign  he 
removed  to  London,  and  studied  as  a  physician.  But  on 
the  accession  of  George  the  first,  he  shrewdly  perceived 
that  the  ministers  would  look  out  for  men  of  lax  opinions 
and  practice  in  the  church  for  preferment,  and  that  the 
religious  clergy  would  be  passed  over  on  account  of  their 
political  principles.  He  accordingly  sought  for  and  ob- 
tained holy  orders,  and  soon  became  a  pluralist.  He  was 
of  Hoadley's  school,  and  his  opinions  more  nearly  accorded 
with  those  of  pagan  philosophers  than  with  Christian 
verity.  Among  his  works  are  "  Remarks  on  the  sixth 
chapter  of  bishop  Butler's  Analogy,"  and  "  An  answer  to 
the  first  volume  of  bishop  Warburton's  Divine  Legation 
of  Moses."  He  died  at  Norwich,  23rd  September,  1754. 
— Kippis.    Biog.  Brit. 

BOUCHER,  JONATHAN:. 

Jonathan  Boucher  was  born  in  1738,  at  Blencogo,  in 
Cumberland.  He  received  his  education  at  the  school  of 
Wigton,  after  which  he  went  to  America,  where,  on  taking 
orders,  he  obtained  first  the  living  of  Hanover  in  Virginia, 
and  afterwards  Queen  Anne's  parish,  in  Prince  George's 
county.  In  1775  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  his  charge, 
and  seek  refuge  in  England,  his  principles  being  those  of 
a  royalist.  He  had  discharged  his  duties  as  a  clergyman, 
and  maintained  his  character  for  loyalty,  with  such  firm- 
ness and  discretion,  that  he  was  received  in  England  with 
respect.  He  was  for  some  time  a  curate,  but  in  1784  he 
was  presented  to  the  vicarage  of  Epsom,  in  Surrey,  by  the 
celebrated  John  Parkhurst,  author  of  the  Greek  and 
Hebrew  Scripture  Lexicons,  who  knew  him  only  by  charac- 
ter, but  thought  himself  unable  to  discharge  his  trust  as 


BOULTER.  3 

an  ecclesiastical  patron  more  satisfactorily,  than  in  pre- 
ferring a  learned,  worthy  clergyman,  who  had  abandoned 
home  and  living  rather  than  violate  his  obligations  as  an 
Englishman.  He  died  in  1804.  Mr.  Boucher  published, 
1.  A  letter  to  bishop  Watson,  in  answer  to  his  letter  to 
the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  4to,  1783  2.  A  view  of  the 
causes  and  <x)nsequences  of  the  American  Revolution,  in 
thirteen  discourses,  8yo,  1797.  3.  Two  assize  sermons, 
preached  in  1798.  He  was  also  the  author  of  a  tract, 
entitled  "A  Cumberland  Man,"  and  several  biographical 
articles  in  Hutchinson's  histoiy  of  that  county.  Before 
his  death  he  engaged  in  a  glossaiy  of  provincial  and 
archaeological  words,  which  he  left  incomplete ;  but  a 
portion  of  it,  containing  the  first  letter  of  the  alphabet, 
was  printed. — Gent.  Mag.     Allans  Amencan  Biog.  Diet. 

BOULTER,    HUGH. 

Hugh  Boulter  was  born  in  or  near  London,  January 
4th,  1671,  and  educated  at  Merchant  Taylor's  school, 
whence  he  removed  to  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  a  short  time 
previous  to  the  revolution.  He  was  noticed  by  Dr.  Hough, 
the  restored  president  of  Magdalene  College,  where  he  was 
elected  demy,  together  with  Addison,  and  Wilcox,  after- 
wards bishop  of  Rochester.  He  subsequently  became 
fellow,  and  continued  resident  till  1700,  when  he  was 
made  chaplain  to  sir  Charles  Hedges,  secretary  of  «tate; 
he  was  shortly  after  appointed  to  a  similar  office  in 
the  household  of  archbishop  Tenison,  and  was  preferred 
to  the  rectory  of  St.  Olave's,  Southwark,  and  to  the  arch- 
deaconry of  Surrey.  In  1719  he  accompanied  king 
George  I.  to  Hanover,  in  the  capacity  of  chaplain ;  he 
was  also  tutor  to  prince  Frederic,  and  drew  up  "a 
flet  of  instructions"  for  his  royal  pupil.  With  his  con- 
duct the  king  was  so  much  pleased,  that  he  made  him 
dean  of  Christ  Church  and  bishop  of  Bristol,  to  which  see 
he  was  consecrated  November  1719.  He  presided  over  it 
with  great  ability  for  about  four  vears  and  a  half,  but 


4  BOULTER. 

whilst  he  was  engaged  in  visiting  his  diocese,  he  received 
a  letter  informing  him  that  the  king  had  nominated  him 
to  the  primacy  of  Ireland,  vacant  by  the  death  of  Dr.  Lind- 
say. He  was  for  some  time  very  unwilling  to  accept  this 
high  but  responsible  ofiSce ;  the  king,  however,  would 
hear  of  no  denial,  and  the  archbishop  accordingly  arrived 
in  Ireland,  Novembers,  1724.  As  soon  as  he  had  taken 
possession  of  the  primacy,  he  began  to  consider  that  coun- 
try, in  which  his  lot  was  cast  for  life,  as  his  own  ;  and  to 
promote  its  true  interest  with  the  greatest  zeal  and  assi- 
duity. He  often  said  "  he  would  do  all  the  good  to  Ireland 
he  could,  though  they  did  not  suffer  him  to  do  all  he 
would." 

The  scarcity  of  silver  coin  in  Ireland  was  excessively 
great,  occasioned  by  reducing  the  value  of  gold  coin  in  Eng- 
land, and  the  balance  of  trade  which  lay  against  the  Irish. 
To  remedy  this  inconvenience,  the  primate  supported  a 
scheme  at  the  council  table,  to  bring  gold  and  silver  nearer 
to  a  par  in  value,  by  lowering  that  of  the  former,  which 
was  carried  into  execution.  The  populace,  encouraged  by 
some  dealers  in  exchange,  who  were  the  only  losers  by 
the  alteration,  grew  clamorous,  and  laid  the  ruin  of  their 
country  (as  they  called  it)  at  the  primate's  door.  But 
conscious  of  his  own  integrity,  he  despised  the  foolish 
noise  :  experience  evinced  the  utility  of  the  project,  the 
people  in  a  short  time  recovered  their  senses,  and  he  soon 
rose  to  the  greatest  height  of  popularity. 

In  the  year  1729,  there  was  a  great  scarcity,  the  poor 
were  reduced  to  a  miserable  condition,  and  the  nation  was 
threatened  with  famine  and  pestilence.  The  primate  dis- 
tributed vast  quantities  of  grain  through  several  parts  of 
the  kingdom  ;  directed  all  the  vagrant  poor  that  crowded 
the  streets  of  Dublin,  to  be  received  into  the  poor-house, 
and  there  maintained  them  at  his  private  expense,  until 
the  following  harvest  brought  relief. 

In  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1740,  and  the  beginning  of 
1741,  Ireland  was  again  afflicted  with  a  great  scarcity. 
The  prelate's  charity  was  again  extended,  though  with  more 


BOULTER.  5 

regularity  than  before.  The  poor  were  fed  in  the  work- 
house twice  every  day,  according  to  tickets  given  out  by 
persons  entrusted,  the  number  of  which  amounted  to 
732,314.  And  it  appeared  that  2,500  souls  were  fed 
there  every  morning  and  evening,  mostly  at  the  primate's 
expense. 

When  the  scheme  for  opening  a  navigation  by  a  canal 
from  Lough-Neagh  to  Newry,  w^as  proposed  in  parliament, 
in  the  year  1729,  the  primate  patronized  it  with  all  his 
interest ;  and  when  the  bill  was  passed,  and  the  work  set 
about,  was  veiy  instrumental  in  carrying  it  on  with  effect. 
One  part  of  the  design  was  to  bring  coals  from  thence  to 
Dublin,  and  the  coal  mines  were  in  the  see-lands  of 
Armagh,  which  were  then  leased  out  to  a  tenant.  The  pri- 
mate fearing  the  lessee  might  be  exorbitant  in  his  demands, 
purchased  the  lease  at  a  great  expense,  in  order  to  accom- 
modate the  public.  He  also  gave  timber  out  of  his  woods 
to  carry  on  the  work ;  and  often  advanced  his  own  money, 
without  interest,  for  the  same  purpose. 

He  gave  and  settled  a  competent  stipend  on  an  assistant 
curate  at  Drogheda,  a  large  and  populous  town  in  his  dio- 
cese ;  where  the  cure  was  too  burthensome  for  one  clergy- 
man, and  the  revenues  of  the  church  were  not  sufiScient 
to  maintain  two.  He  stipulated  that  there  should  not 
only  be  service  every  Sunday  afternoon,  but  that  there 
should  be  daily  service ;  prayers  twice  every  day. 

He  maintained  several  sons  of  his  poor  clergy  at  the 
university,  and  gave  them  a  liberal  education,  in  order  to 
qualify  them  for  future  preferment. 

He  erected  and  endowed  hospitals  both  at  Drogheda 
and  Armagh,  for  the  reception  of  clergymen's  widows ; 
and  settled  a  fund  for  putting  out  their  children  ap- 
prentices. 

.  He  built  a  stately  market  house  at  Armagh,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  upwards  of  £800. 

He  subscribed  £50  per  ann.  to  Dr.  Stevens's  hospital  in 
Dublin,  for  the  maintenance  and  care  of  the  poor;  and 
A  2 


6  BOULTER. 

furnished  one  of  the  wards  for  the  reception  of  patients  at 
a  considerable  expense. 

His  charities,  for  augmenting  small  livings,  and  buying 
of  glebes,  amounted  to  upwards  of  £30,000  besides  what 
he  devised  by  his  will  for  the  like  purposes  in  England. 
He  was  also  a  benefactor  to  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  and 
to  Magdalene  College. 

He  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  obtaining  a  royal 
charter  for  the  Irish  schools,  and  for  the  passing  of  the 
charter  he  paid  all  the  fees.  He  was  not  only  a  large 
subscriber  to  them,  but  was  their  resource  on  all  occasions 
when,  as  was  frequently  the  case,  they  became  involved 
in  pecuniary  difficulties. 

He  was  likewise  an  able  assistant  at  the  council  table, 
and  was  several  times  one  of  the  lords  justices  of  Ireland ; 
in  fact,  the  government  of  that  country  was,  at  one  time, 
very  much  directed  by  him.  Having  business  in  Lon- 
don, in  1742,  he  was  taken  ill  there,  and  after  a  struggle 
of  two  days,  died  at  his  house  in  St  James'-place,  on 
September  •21ih,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster  abbey, 
where  a  handsome  monument  has  been  erected  to  his 
memory. 

This  generous  prelate,  whose  munificence  endeared 
him  to  the  church  of  Ireland,  is  not  distinguished  as  an 
author :  he  published  a  few  charges  to  his  clergy,  and 
some  occasional  sermons,  printed  separately.  In  1769, 
however,  were  published,  at  Oxford,  in  two  volumes  8vo, 
"  Letters  written  by  his  excellency  Hugh  Boulter,  D.D., 
lord  primate  of  all  Ireland,  &c.,  to  several  ministers  of 
state  in  England,  and  some  others ;  containing  an  account 
of  the  most  interesting  transactions  which  passed  in  Ire- 
land from  1724  to  1738."  The  originals,  which  are  de- 
posited in  the  library  of  Christ  Church,  in  Oxford,  were 
collected  by  Ambrose  Philips,  esq.,  who  \vas  secretary  to  his 
grace,  and  lived  in  his  house  during  that  space  of  time  in 
which  they  bear  date.  They  are  entirely  letters  of  busi- 
ness, and  are  all  of  them  in  Dr.  Boulter's  hand- writing, 
excepting  some  few,  which  are  fair  copies  by  his  secretary. 


BOURCHIER.  7 

The  editor  justly  remarks,  that  these  letters,  which  could 
not  be  intended  for  publication,  have  been  fortunately 
preserved,  as  they  contain  the  most  authentic  history  of 
Ireland,  for  the  period  in  which  they  were  written :  "a 
period,"  he  adds,  "  which  will  ever  do  honour  to  his 
grace's  memory,  and  to  those  most  excellent  princes 
George  the  first  and  second,  who  had  the  wisdom  to  place 
confidence  in  so  worthy,  so  able,  and  so  successful  a 
minister ;  a  minister  who  had  the  rare  and  peculiar  feli- 
city of  growing  still  more  and  more  into  the  favour  both 
of  the  king  and  of  the  people,  until  the  very  last  day  of 
his  life."  It  is  much  to  he  regretted  that  in  some  of  his 
measures,  he  was  opposed  by  dean  Swift,  particularly  in 
that  of  diminishing  the  gold  coin,  as  it  is  probable  that 
they  both  were  actuated  by  an  earnest  desire  of  serving 
the  country.  In  one  affair,  that  of  Wood  s  halfpence, 
they  appear  to  have  coincided,  and  in  that  they  both  hap- 
pened to  encourage  a  public  clamour  which  had  little 
solid  foundation — Memoirs  communicated  by  one  who  was 
most  intimate  idth  archbishop  Boulter  to  the  original  editor 
of  the  Biog.  Brit.    Preface  to  his  Letters. 

BOURCHIEE,    BOWSCHYRE,  OR  BOWCER,  THOMAS. 

Thomas  Bourchier  was  the  son  of  sir  WiUiam  Bourchier, 
earl  of  Eu  in  Normandy.  He  was  educated  at  Neville's 
Inn,  Oxford,  and  when  he  left  the  university  was  appointed 
dean  of  St.  Martin's,  London.  At  this  time  the  usurpa- 
tions of  the  bishop  of  Rome  had  become  almost  in- 
tolerable, and  his  aggressions  on  our  venerable  establish- 
ment were  by  our  ancestors  frequently,  though  not  always 
successfully,  opposed.  In  1434  Thomas  Polton,  bishop 
of  Worcester,  died,  and  by  one  of  those  worst  of  papal 
abuses,  a  provision,  the  pope  of  Rome,  Eugenius,  then 
sitting  at  the  council  of  Basil,  took  it  upon  himself  to 
confer  the  see  upon  Thomas  Browns,  dean  of  Salisbury, 
and  he  sent  letters  to  the  king  to  that  effect,  desiring  his 
approbation  of  the  appointment.     The  king,   so  far  from 


8  BOURCHIER. 

approving,  caused  letters  to  be  addressed  to  Thomas 
Browns  requiring  him  to  renounce  the  provision,  and 
informing  him,  that  unless  he  would  comply,  he  should 
not  only  not  have  the  see  of  Worcester,  but  that  he  should 
never  hold  any  bishopric  in  England.  The  king  also 
•wrote  to  the  pope,  refusing  his  consent  to  the  provision. 
So  far  the  liberties  of  our  beloved  church  were  maintained 
against  popish  usurpations,  but,  as  was  too  often  the  case, 
there  was  in  the  end  a  compromise,  by  which  the  king 
carried  his  immediate  object,  while  the  pope  did  not 
renounce  his  usurped  right.  Browns  was  made  bishop  of 
Rochester,  and  Bourchier  was  consecrated  to  the  see  of 
Worcester.  He  had  only  been  bishop  of  Worcester  a  year 
when  he  was  elected  by  the  monks  of  Ely  to  that  see ; 
translations  being  unfortunately  common  in  our  establish- 
ment at  that  time.  To  the  translation  of  Bourchier,  how- 
ever, the  king  refused  to  give  his  consent,  and  the  see  of 
Ely  remained  vacant  for  seven  or  eight  years ;  so  that 
Bourchier  was  not  translated  till  the  20th  of  December, 
1443.  Here  he  remained  for  ten  years,  and  according  to 
the  author  of  the  Historia  Eliensis,  was  not  distinguished 
for  his  good  government  or  piety ;  though  the  charges 
brought  against  him  may  be  suspected  of  being  without 
foundation,  seeing  that  he  was  elected  by  the  monks  of 
Canterbury  to  the  metropolitan  see,  as  the  successor  of 
Dr.  Kemp,  on  the  23rd  of  April,  1454.  The  election  was 
entirely  free,  neither  the  king,  or  that  foreign  potentate, 
the  pope,  attempting  to  interfere,  or  bias  the  chapter  in 
their  choice.  It  is  not  probable  that  they  would  have 
elected  a  prelate  who  was  never  connected  with  their  body, 
unless  they  had  been  persuaded  that  he  was  not  the  op- 
pressor which,  by  the  monks  of  Ely,  he  was  represented 
to  be. 

The  approbation  of  the  pope  of  Rome  was  signified  by 
his  appointing  archbishop  Bourchier  to  be  a  cardinal  in 
the  Roman  church ;  he  was  elected  cardinal  priest  of  St. 
Cyriacus  in  Thermis.  The  king,  too,  signified  his  ap- 
proval by  making  the  archbishop  lord  high  chancellor  of 


BOURCHIER.  9 

England,   an  office  which  he  resigned  the  October  fol- 
lowing. 

Soon  after  his  enthronization  he  commenced  a  visitation 
in  Kent,  and  made  several  regulations  for  the  government 
of  his  diocese.     To  mention  some  of  his  provisions  : — 

First :  He  decreed,  "  That  those  religious  who  threw  off 
the  habit  of  the  cloister,  and  entered  upon  parochial  cures, 
should  lose  their  benefices,  and  be  punished  as  revolters 
from  their  order." 

Secondly  :  "  That  church  livings  should  not  be  let  to 
farm  without  the  bishop's  leave." 

Thirdly  :  "That  marriages  and  last  wills  should  not  be 
made  without  two  witnesses  at  the  least."  He  likewise 
passed  several  other  constitutions  for  the  reformation  of 
the  clergy  and  laity,  and  ordered  them  to  be  published  at 
St.  Paul's  Cross. 

As  for  learning  and  religion,  they  were  but,  generally 
speaking,  in  a  state  of  declension :  for,  as  an  author 
who  lived  at  this  time  complains,  "A  right  discharge 
of  the  functions  of  a  parish  priest  was  almost  grown 
into  disuse,  and  made  impracticable.  That  this  mischief 
was  occasioned  by  non-residence,  by  promoting  unworthy 
persons,  by  excessive  allowance  of  pluralities,  by  grant- 
ing university  degrees  to  persons  who  had  neither  morals, 
nor  any  other  circumstance  of  merit  to  recommend  them." 
This  writer,  who  was  sometime  chancellor  of  Oxford,  com- 
plains of  the  government  of  that  university,  "  that  degrees 
were  purchased  without  any  regard  to  life  or  learning  : 
that  this  connivance  and  bribery  in  the  university  over- 
spread the  country  with  ignorance,  and  made  the  parishes 
ill  supplied."  He  goes  on  and  declaims  against  the  relax- 
ation of  discipline  in  the  court  of  Rome  ;  and  reports, 
that  pope  Calixtus  III.  brought  a  very  ill  precedent  into 
the  church  of  England  in  favour  of  a  young  person  of 
quality."  It  seems  this  pope  had  given  a  dispensation  to 
George  Neville,  brother  to  the  great  earl  of  Warwick,  to 
be  elected  bishop  of  Exeter,  and  receive  the  profits  of  that 
see,    notwithstanding  he  was  no  more   than  three  and 


10  BOURCHiER. 

twenty  years  old,  and  was  not  capable  of  being  consecrated 
till  four  years  after.  Notwithstanding  this  disability,  his 
holiness  furnished  him  with  a  bull,  not  only  to  receive  the 
profits,  but  likewise  to  hold  those  other  church  prefer- 
ments he  was  possessed  of  before. 

In  the  year  1454  archbishop  Bourchier  published  a 
letter  for  processions,  which  is  here  presented  to  the 
reader,  who  will  see  from  the  perusal  of  it  how  many 
popish  abuses  had  at  this  period  crept  into  our  beloved 
church,  and  how  much  our  excellent  establishment  re- 
quired the  reformation  which  was  now  approaching. 

"  Thomas  by  Divine  permission  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, primate  of  A.  E.,  legate  of  the  apostolical  see,  to 
our  venerable  brother  Thomas  by  the  grace  of  God  bishop 
of  London,  health,  and  a  continual  increase  of  brotherly 
love.  [Here  is  omitted  a  ivhole  page,  which  is  only  a  pre- 
fatory narrative  of  the  occasion  of  these  letters,  and  which 
is  sufficiently,  though  briefly,  expressed  in  what  folloxcs.] 
That  this  our  happy  expedition  against  the  [Turks] 
persecutors  of  our  orthodox  faith  now  begun,  and  the 
health,  and  condition  of  the  most  Christian  prince  our 
lord  the  king,  and  of  the  commonweal  of  this  kingdom 
may  daily  be  improved,  and  the  sooner  brought  to  perfec- 
tion, and  those  internal  evils  may  be  happily  composed 
by  the  inspiration  of  divine  grace,  we  have  decreed  that 
certain  solemn  processions  be  for  one  year  celebrated 
within  our  province  of  Canterbury  in  the  cathedral, 
regular,  collegiate,  and  other  churches.  Therefore  we 
give  it  in  charge,  and  command  you  our  brother,  that  ye  do 
enjoin  all  and  singular  our  brethren,  and  fellow-bishops, 
the  sufi'ragans  of  our  church  of  Canterbury,  in  our  stead, 
and  by  our  authority,  and  with  all  speed  by  your  letters 
containing  a  copy  of  these,  that  they  do  admonish,  and 
persuade,  or  cause  to  be  admonished  and  persuaded,  all 
their  subjects,  both  clerks,  and  laics  in  their  cathedral, 
conventual,  and  collegiate  churches  (whether  regular,  or 
secular ;)  and  also  in  the  parish  churches  of  their  cities 
and  dioceses  on  the  Lord's  days  and  festivals,  that  the;^ 


BOURCHIER  11 

celebrate  processions  in  a  most  devout,  affectionate,  and 
solemn  manner,  and  sing  or  say  the  litanies  with  other 
suffrages  that  are  seasonable  and  acceptable  to  God,  as 
well  on  those  Lord's-dajs  and  Festivals,  as  on  every 
Wednesday  and  Friday,  with  all  humility  of  heart,  for 
the  driving  away  and  removing  far  from  the  bounds  of 
the  Christian  world,  the  wicked  powers  of  them  that  are 
enemies  to  the  Christian  orthodox  faith,  and  its  pro- 
fessors, and  for  the  total  extinguishing  and  (may  God  so 
please)  the  exterminating  of  them  ;  and  for  the  restoring 
and  perfecting  tlie  welfare  of  our  lord  the  king,  and  this 
famous  kingdom  of  England,  and  for  the  daily  increase 
and  improvement  of  their  prosperity  ;  and  for  the  averting 
and  dispelling,  removing  and  avoiding  with  all  possible 
speed  those  difficulties  and  dangers  now  imminent  on  the 
king,  and  kingdom,  and  those  evils  from  abroad  with 
which  we  are  beset  and  encompassed ;  and  that  they  do 
farther  exhort  the  i)eople  subject  to  them,  that  they  do  by 
day  and  night,  at  their  convenient  leisure,  continue  in- 
stant in  their  prayers  with  all  humility  of  heart,  for  the 
averting  these  evils  from  us,  and  from  the  whole  Christian 
world.  And  do  ye,  dear  brother,  cause  the  same  to  be 
done  in  your  city  and  diocese  by  those  who  belong  to  you, 
in  an  humble  devout  manner  on  the  like  days,  times 
and  places.  And  that  they  may  be  excited  to  these  works 
of  devotion  with  the  greater  frequency  and  zeal,  we  of  the 
immense  mercy  of  God,  and  confiding  in  the  merits  and 
prayers  of  the  most  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  his  mother,  and 
of  the  blessed  Peter  and  Paul,  his  apostles,  and  of  saints 
Alphege  and  Thomas,  martyrs,  our  patrons,  and  of  all  the 
saints,  do  graciously  grant  forty  days  indulgence  by  these 
presents,  to  all  and  every  one  of  our  subjects  who  repents 
of  his  sins,  and  confesses  them  with  contrition,  and  is 
present  on  any  Wednesday  or  Friday  within  the  said 
year  at  the  making  of  such  procession,  as  is  aforesaid,  and 
intercedes  with  devout  prayers  to  God  for  the  premises, 
or  that  fasts  on  the  days  aforesaid,  or  on  any  day  within 
the  same  year ;  or  that  says  mass,  or  seven  psalms  with 


12  BOURCHIER. 

the  litany,  or  a  nocturnal  of  David's  psalter,  or  the  psalter 
of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  so  called,  or  that  goes  in  pil- 
grimage to  any  place,  commonly  resorted  to  for  such  pur- 
poses, or  gives  any  thing  in  alms,  out  of  reverence  to  God, 
or  his  saints,  and  that  duly  confesses  his  sins  in  order  to 
his  ofifering  these  sacrifices  in  a  more  acceptable  manner 
to  God,  for  as  often  as  they  perform  any  of  the  premises. 
And  we  request  you,  and  your  brethren  that  ye  grant 
such  indulgences  to  your  and  their  subjects  doing  as 
aforesaid,  as  are  wont  to  be  granted  Dated  in  our  manor 
of  Croydon  on  the  19th  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1454,  and  of  our  translation  the  first." 

In  those  days  bishops  were  not  so  despotic  as  they  now 
are,  and  therefore  surprise  has  been  expressed  that  the 
archbishop  in  this  case  did  not  consult  his  convocation  ; 
but  it  is  to  be  observed  that  he  did  not  intend  his  letter 
to  be  a  binding  or  peremptory  decree,  but  only  an  earnest 
admonition  ;  and  when  in  the  year  following,  as  Johnson 
observes,  "  he  sent  his  monition  to  all  rectors,  vicars, 
curates,  and  their  substitutes  throughout  his  diocese  and 
province,  and  particularly  to  all  such  as  should  minister 
the  word  of  God  to  the  clergy  and  people  at  St.  Paul's  Cross, 
London,  to  advertise  all  people  that  testaments  should  not 
be  made,  or  matrimony  contracted  without  two  or  three 
witnesses,  and  that  one  of  the  witnesses  to  the  will  be  a 
parish  priest,  or  the  proper  curate,  if  it  may  conveDiently 
be,  he  had  no  occasion  to  take  the  advice  of  his  convoca- 
tion in  this  case,  because  what  he  required  was  no  more 
than  what  the  canon  law  demanded." 

In  1416  the  prelates  of  our  church  had  made  provision 
for  their  Festa  Repentina,  occasional  thanksgivings  with- 
out composing  new  ofiBces ;  in  the  letter  of  archbishop 
Bourchier  we  may  observ^e  how  they  ordered  matters  in 
case  of  extraordinary  humiliation ;  they  drew  up  no  new 
offices,  but  only  required  some  old  forms  to  be  more 
frequently  used:  they  did  not  think  their  authority 
sufficient  absolutely  to  enjoin  the  use  of  these  forms,  but 
only  granted  indulgences  to  those  who  comphed.     The 


BOURCHIER  13 

convocation  indeed  in  1416  did  peremptorily  require  all 
to  use  the  old  forms  in  a  new  manner ;  but  the  arch- 
bishop acting  bj  himself  did  not  venture  to  go  so  far. 
Tirls  fact,  pointed  out  by  Johnson  in  the  Collection  of 
Ecclesiastical  Laws,  &c.,  is  especially  worthy  of  note  in 
the  present  age,  when  individual  bishops  arrogate  to 
themselves,  too  often,  the  power  which  pertains  only  to 
convocation.  As  to  the  provision  for  occasional  services, 
it  is  arranged  better  in  the  church  of  England  subse- 
quently to  the  Reformation  than  what  it  was  before.  Every 
Friday  is  an  established  fast,  and  the  commination  ser- 
vice may  be  used  whenever  the  ordinaiy  appoints ;  and 
this  with  the  prayer  on  the  occasion,  whatever  it  may  be, 
which  may  be  added  out  of  the  forms  next  after  the 
litany,  prescribed  to  be  used  before  the  two  final  prayers 
at  matins  and  even-song,  would  make  a  better  ofiBce  than 
any  of  those  modern  compilations  which  have  been  some- 
times enjoined  by  very  questionable  authority.  What  is 
said  of  fast-day  services  is  equally  applicable  to  thanks- 
givings. 

As  for  the  indulgences  alluded  to  in  archbishop  Bour- 
cliier's  letter,  the  learned  editor,  referred  to  before,  very 
justly  remarks  that  they  were  among  "  the  most  stupid 
inventions  that  were  ever  set  on  foot  by  the  court  of 
Rome:  and  the  inventors  themselves  could  never  explain 
the  meaning  of  them  :  for  they  ever  declared,  that  neither 
the  pope,  nor  Christ  Jesus  Himself  did  ever  give  hopes  of 
reprobates  being  freed  from  hell-torments.  They  tell  us  it 
was  only  a  relaxation  of  the  temporal  punishment  due  for 
sin,  and  which  is  to  be  paid  either  by  penance  here,  or  in 
purgatory  hereafter.  And  this  might  in  some  measure  clear 
the  matter  as  to  the  bishop's  indulgence,  which  was  but 
for  thirty  day^  at  most,  and  as  to  the  archbishop "s,  which 
was  but  for  fifty  days  at  most.  But  when  the  pope  by  the 
pretended  plenitude  of  power  extended  his  indulgences  to 
thousands  of  years,  this  can  never  be  resolved  into  a 
relaxation  of  penance,  unless  it  could  be  supposed  that  a 

VOL.  Ill,  B 


\i  BOURCHIER. 

man  could  sin  or  do  penance  for  so  many  years.  After 
all,  their  best  casuists  advise  people  to  do  their  penance, 
notwithstanding  these  indulgences,  which  is  to  say,  that 
they  would  have  none  to  rely  on  them." 

Among  the  grievances  of  the  age  was  the  decay  of 
learning  in  our  two  great  universities,  especially  in  the 
university  of  Oxford.  The  reason  of  this  declension  is  sup- 
posed to  have  proceeded  from  the  withdrawing  the  usual 
salaries  and  exhibitions,  and  by  overlooking  the  members 
of  the  university  in  the  disposal  of  church  preferments. 
Farther,  this  decay  of  learning  is  partly  resolved  into  the 
great  number  of  impropriations  to  monasteries.  Religious 
houses  had  for  some  time  made  it  their  business  to  draw 
parochial  cures  within  their  property  and  patronage. 
They  were  sometimes  so  fond  of  this  privilege  as  to  settle 
an  annuity  or  part  with  a  manor  to  the  laity  for  an  im- 
propriation. They  found  an  advantage  in  converting  the 
profits  of  livings  to  the  use  of  the  convent :  for,  by  having 
the  revenues  thus  augmented,  they  were  in  a  better  con- 
dition to  support  emergent  exjDenses,  and  purchase  liber- 
ties and  exemptions.  Thus  the  abbey  of  St.  Edmondsbury 
in  Suffolk,  in  Cratfield's  time,  procured  a  license  from  the 
pope  to  choose  their  abbot  without  consulting  the  see  of 
Rome  :  and,  in  consideration  of  this  favour,  they  obliged 
themselves  to  pay  a  rent-charge  of  twenty  pounds  per 
annum  to  the  pope  ;  and  twenty  marks  a  year  into  the 
exchequer  to  redeem  their  abbey-lands  from  being  seized 
into  the  kings  hands  upon  every  vacancy.  To  support 
this  charge,  they  procured  two  parishes  to  be  appropriated 
to  their  monastery,  notwithstanding  they  were  already 
possessed  of  more  than  threescore  under  the  same  circum- 
stances. And  of  this  kind,  there  might  be  several  other 
instances  given. 

And  thus,  by  perverting  the  design  of  the  endowment 
of  churches,  and  robbing  the  parochial  clergy  of  their 
patrimony,  religion  and  learning  suffered  very  much  :  for 
the  monasteries  being  frequently  over-solicitous  for  their 


BOURCHIER.  15 

interest,  used  to  afford  a  very  slender  consideration  to 
those  who  supplied  the  cures :  and  thus  the  parishes  were 
put  into  the  hands  of  ignorant  incumbents.  This  mis- 
fortune gave  occasion  to  frequent  contests  and  vexatious 
suits  among  the  parishioners ;  whereas  formerly,  when 
the  parish  priests  were  men  of  learning  and  character, 
these  differences  were  taken  up,  and  decided  by  them.  But 
now,  such  disputes  falling  into  the  hands  of  lawyers, — 
who,  when  not  men  of  conscience,  made  it  their  business 
to  perplex  and  prolong  the  controversy, — the  countiy  was 
more  than  ever  embroiled  :  and,  being  in  a  great  measure 
exhausted  by  law-suits,  they  were  disabled  for  pious  uses 
and  benefactions  to  learning. 

Besides,  the  exhibitions  to  the  universities,  as  has  been 
observed,  were  in  a  great  measure  withdrawn.  The  reason 
of  the  failing  of  this  fund,  which  was  mostly  furnished  by 
the  bishops,  was  this:  the  prelates  in  this  reign,  by 
spending  too  much  of  their  time  at  court,  and  making  too 
great  a  figure  there,  disabled  themselves  from  assisting 
men  of  learning,  and  neither  gave  the  customary  enter- 
tainment to  scholars  in  their  houses,  nor  supplied  them 
at  the  universities. 

And  here  Gascoigne,  above-mentioned,  observes,  "  that 
before  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  the  kings  of  England  never 
detained  any  bishop  at  their  courts,  unless  for  a  short 
time  ;  neither  had  they  any  of  that  order  for  their  con- 
fessors. And  when  the  director  of  their  conscience,  who 
was  generally  a  doctor  in  divinity,  happened  to  be  elected 
to  any  bishopric,  he  immediately  quitted  his  office,  and 
went  down  to  his  see ;  and  while  things  were  thus 
managed,  doctors  were  men  of  great  learning  and  esteem, 
and  had  the  precedency  of  archdeacons,  deans,  and 
knights." 

The  avarice  and  extravagant  partialities  of  the  court  of 
Rome,  were  another  occasion  of  the  declensions  in  the 
Church  and  universities.  For  if  men  brought  money  and 
strong  recommendations,  that  court  frequently  overlooked 
the  considerations  of  probity  and  merit. 


16  BOURCHIER. 

The  weight  of  these  grievances  put  the  university  of  Ox- 
ford upon  addressing  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  to  step 
in  to  th^ir  relief,  to  give  check  to  the  excesses  of  papal 
provisions.  The  archbishop  undertook  the  business,  and 
made  a  synodical  constitution,  that  for  the  future,  no 
person  should  be  admitted  to  holy  orders  without  a  testi- 
monial from  the  archdeacon  of  the  place,  or  the  chancellor 
of  the  university,  or  his  deputy.  This  expedient,  though 
it  gave  some  hopes  of  reformation  at  first,  proved  insigni- 
ficant, by  the  mercenariness  of  the  bishop's  officers,  who 
seldom  would  wait  for  any  testimonials  of  this  kind. 

The  following  are  the  constitutions  of  archbishop  Bour- 
chier,  published  in  1463,  which  are  here  given  as  throw- 
ing light  upon  the  state  of  the  church  in  the  fifteenth 
century. 

"  The  constitutions  of  Thomas  Bourchier,  archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  primate  of  A.  E.,  legate  of  the  apostolical 
see,  made  in  the  cathedral  church  of  St.  Pauls,  London, 
the  prelates  and  clergy  of  the  province  of  Canterbury 
being  then  and  there  convocated,  on  the  sixth  day  of  July, 
1463. 

1.  Although  the  disposal  of  all  churches,  and  of  the 
rights,  persons,  and  things  thereunto  belonging,  and  also 
of  the  goods  in  pious  places  is  known  by  the  testimony  of 
the  sacred  canons  to  belong  to  the  bishops,  and  holiness 
becomes  God  s  house,  and  jDcaceableness  (with  due  venera- 
tion of  Him,  by  whose  peace  it  was  made  a  place  of 
Divine  worship)  that  no  disturbance  of  the  minds  of 
Christians,  or  execution  of  the  secular  law  be  in  the 
church ;  yet  the  impudence,  or  rather  rashness  of  some 
secular  officers  in  the  province  of  Canterbury,  forgetful  of 
their  own  salvation,  is  grown  so  abusive  to  the  church,  that 
sheriffs,  under-sheriffs,  bailififs,  Serjeants,  beadles,  and  at- 
tendants, by  themselves,  and  their  deputies  do  compel 
persons  of  both  sexes  staying  in  churches  and  church- 
yards and  other  places,  as  is  said,  dedicated  to  God  (per- 
chance) to  attend  on  prayer,  to  be  arrested  and  violently 
torn  from  thence  with  the  disturbance  of  divine  worship ; 


BOURCHIER.  IT 

sometimes  with  fightiDg,  and  the  pollution  of  the  churches 
under  colour  of  executing  a  secular  office,  by  means  unfit 
to  be  used  in  churches,  to  the  scandal  and  detriment  of 
the  churches,  and  the  hazard  of  their  own  souls,  and  the 
pernicious  example  of  others.  Now  we  Thomas  by  divine 
permission  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  desiring  as  we  are 
bound,  to  apply  a  remedy  against  such  abuses  to  such  as 
have  reprobated  the  law  of  God  and  His  holy  church,  and 
lest  we  should  seem  to  approve  of  it,  do  by  authority  of 
this  present  provincial  council  ordain,  and  prohibit  any 
secular  ofl&cer  by  what  name  soever  called,  to  arrest  in  any 
civil  or  pecuniary  action,  or  to  force  out  of  a  church  or  any 
sacred  place,  and  particularly  the  church  of  St.  Pauls, 
London,  (especially  while  divine  semce  is  there  celebra- 
ted) any  man,  or  woman  under  pain  of  excommunication. 
And  if  any  sheriff,  under-sheriff,  mayor,  bailiff,  seijeant, 
beadle,  attendant,  or  other  secular  officer,  under  whatever 
name  he  passes,  be  a  rash  violator  of  this  our  statute,  or 
give  authority,  help  or  consent  to  such  violation,  we  will 
that  he  do  ipso  facto  incur  the  sentence  of  the  greater 
excommunication,  not  to  be  absolved  from  the  same,  till 
they  have  made  competent  satisfaction  to  the  persons  and 
churches  injured.  And  we  make  a  special  reservation  of 
their  absolution  to  the  diocesans  of  the  places.  And  we 
will  that  they  be  bound  in  the  same  sentence,  who  lay 
violent  hands  even  on  a  layman  in  churches,  or  other 
consecrated  places. 

•2.  Although  in  this  catholic  and  glorious  kingdom  of 
England  the  preachers  of  the  word  of  God  have  sufficiently 
considered  and  declaimed  against  the  new  ill-contrived 
fashions  of  apparel  of  the  clergy  and  people  for  several 
years,  by  reproof,  reprehension,  and  entreaty,  according  to 
the  apostle "s  doctrine  ;  yet  few  or  none  desist  from  these 
abuses,  which  is  much  to  be  lamented.  It  is  fit  then  that 
they  who  are  not  reclaimed  by  divine  love  be  restrained 
by  fear  of  punishment.  And  if  we  who  by  divine  permis- 
sion are  set  over  others  to  reform  them,  neglect  to  reform 
b2 


18  BOURCHIER. 


[S 


ourselves  and  clergy,  we  fear,  lest  the  people  subject  to  us 
observing  that  our  lives  and  manners  differ  from  our  ser- 
mons, do  thence  take  occasion  to  distrust  our  words,  and 
so  be  prompted,  which  God  avert,  to  contemn  the  church 
of  Christ,  and  His  ministers,  and  their  sound  doctrine 
and  authority.  Desiring  therefore  to  apply  a  remedy  to 
this  evil,  so  far  as  God  enables  us,  that  we  may  not  be  to 
answer  for  it  at  the  last  day,  we  do  by  our  metropolitical 
authority,  with  the  unanimous  assent  and  consent  of  our 
venerable  brethren  the  lords  the  bishops,  and  of  the  whole 
clergy  of  the  province  of  Canterbury,  by  a  decree  of  this 
present  provincial  council,  enact  and  ordain  that  no  priest, 
or  clerk  in  holy  orders,  or  beneficed,  do  publicly  wear  any 
gown  or  upper  garment,  but  what  is  close  before,  and  not 
wholly  open,  nor  any  bordering  of  skins  or  furs  in  the 
lower  edges  or  circumference :  and  that  no  one  who  is 
not  graduated  in  some  university,  or  possessed  of  some 
ecclesiastical  dignity,  do  wear  a  cap  with  a  cape,  nor  a 
double  cap,  nor  a  single  one  with  a  cornet,  or  a  short  hood 
after  the  manner  of  prelates  and  graduates  (excepting  only 
the  priests  and  clerks  in  the  service  of  our  lord  the  king) 
or  gold,  or  any  thing  gilt  on  their  girdle,  sword,  dagger, 
or  purse.  And  let  none  of  the  abovesaid,  nor  any  domes- 
tics of  an  archbishop,  bishop,  abbot,  prior,  dean,  arch- 
deacon, or  of  any  ecclesiastical  man  who  serves  them  for 
stipends,  or  wages,  and  especially  they  who  serve  in  a 
spiritual  office,  wear  ill-contrived  garments  scandalous  to 
the  church,  nor  bolsters  about  their  shoulders  in  their 
doublet,  coat,  or  gown,  nor  an  upper  garment  so  short  as 
not  to  cover  their  middle  parts,  nor  shoes  monstrously 
long  and  turoed  up  at  the  toes,  nor  any  such  sort  of  gar- 
ments. If  any  transgressor  of  this  statute  and  ordinance 
be  discovered  after  a  month  from  the  publication  thereof, 
let  him  be  wholly  deprived  of  the  perception  of  the  profits 
of  his  ecclesiastical  benefice,  if  he  have  any  :  if  he  have 
none  let  him  be  wholly  deprived  of  his  office  or  service, 
whether  he  be  clerk  or  laic,   till  he  reform  himself.     And 


BOURCHIER.  19 

let  the  lord  or  master,  who  retains  such  an  uiireformed' 
transgressor,  or  receives  him  again  anew,  take  upon  his 
own  conscience  the  burden  and  peril  before  the  supreme 
judge.  And  because  we  ourselves  are  disposed  to  use  all 
diligence  toward  the  observance  of  this  constitution  in  our 
own  person,  as  God  shall  give  us  His  grace,  we  do  in  the 
Lord  exhort  all  our  venerable  the  lords  the  bishops,  and 
other  inferior  ecclesiastical  persons,  we  admonish  all  and 
singular  persons  subject  to  us  in  virtue  of  strict  obedience, 
in  the  same  Lord,  that  they  so  behave  themselves  in 
this  respect  as  may  be  to  the  praise  of  Almighty  God,  and 
for  the  avoiding  scandal  to  His  church ;  that  we  may  not 
hereafter  be  forced  to  aggravate  the  penalties  of  this 
constitution." 

It  would  appear  from  these  constitutions  that  the  clergy 
wore  swords,  and  we  find  in  other  contemporary  docu- 
ments that  it  was  occasionally  necessary  to  warn  the 
clergy  against  the  adoption  of  military  habits. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  that  some  of  the  extraordinary  pri- 
vileges which  the  university  of  Oxford  at  this  time  asserts, 
are  to  be  traced  to  papal  favour ;  that  in  fact  their  right  to 
suspend  an  ecclesiastic  from  preaching  is  a  right  obtained 
from  the  pope,  and  that  the  exercise  of  it  is  proof,  not  of 
an  Anglican,  but  of  a  popish  spirit.  In  the  year  1476, 
according  to  the  statement  of  Collier,  the  pope,  at  the 
instance  of  the  university  of  Oxford ,  granted  that  learned 
body  a  bull  of  pri\ilege  dated  the  13th  of  September. 
The  reason  why  the  university  solicited  this  favour,  was, 
because  their  former  exemptions  procured  from  the  see 
of  Rome  were  either  lost  or  revoked ;  particularly  the 
famous  grant  of  pope  Boniface  VIII.  had  been  cancelled. 
This  instrument  of  Sixtus  IV.  takes  notice,  that  it  was  set 
forth  in  the  bull  of  Boniface,  that  several  kings  of  England, 
of  famous  memory,  had  granted  this  privilege,  amongst 
others,  to  the  university  of  Oxford  ;  "  That,  for  the  greater 
convenience  and  ease  of  the  students,  their  chancellor  for 
the  time  being  should  have  the  cognizance  and  correction 
of  all  contracts,  trespasses,  and  misdemeanours,  within  the 


20  BOURCHIEH. 

precincts.of  the  university,  where  one  of  the  parties  was 
either  a  scholar,  a  servant  to  any  of  that  body,  or  other- 
wise belonging  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  chancellor  ;  and 
that  no  person,  under  the  circumstances  and  distinctions 
above-mentioned,  should,  by  virtue  of  the  king's  writs,  be 
forced  to  make  their  appearance,  or  take  their  trial  in  any 
foreign  court,  unless  in  prosecutions  for  murder,  mayhem, 
or  pleas  concerning  freehold :  and  that  the  masters, 
doctors,  and  scholars,  had  peaceably  enjoyed  this  royal 
privilege  long  beyond  the  memory  of  man.'  The  bull  of 
Boniface  proceeds  to  recite,  "that  the  university  requested 
an  extent  of  privilege  with  respect  to  the  church,  and  that 
their  body  might  be  exempted  from  the  jurisdiction  of  all 
archbishops,  bishops,  and  other  ordinaries  whatsoever  ; 
and  that  the  chancellor  should  be  empowered  to  decide  all 
emergent  differences,  and  punish  all  trespasses  and  crimes 
above-mentioned,  with  a  liberty  of  exercising  all  manner 
of  spiritual  authority  upon  the  university  members  :  and 
that  all  suspensions,  excommunications,  or  interdicts, 
denounced  and  published  against  the  said  chancellor, 
scholars,  &c.,  should  be  void,  and  of  none  effect."  This 
bull  of  Boniface  is  revived  by  Sixtus  IV.,  and  all  the  fran- 
chises granted  by  the  kings  of  England  confirmed. 

In  the  reign  of  Edward  V.,  Richard,  duke  of  Gloucester, 
continued  to  make  archbishop  Bourchier  an  instrument 
of  promoting  his  own  ambitious  designs.  It  was  by  his 
graces  persuasion  that  the  queen  dowager  consented 
to  deliver  up  the  duke  of  York  into  the  hands  of  the 
protector.  But  the  archbishop  has  never  been  accused  of 
acting  from  any  sinister  motive,  and  his  whole  conduct 
shews  that  he  had  full  confidence  at  the  time  in  Richards 
sincerity.  The  last  public  act  of  archbishop  Bourchier, 
was  to  solemnize  the  marriage  between  Henry  VII.  and 
Elizabeth  of  York,  and  thus,  as  Dr.  Fuller  observes,  "  his 
hand  first  held  the  sweet  posie  whereby  the  white  and  red 
roses  were  tied  together."  He  died  in  1486,  at  Knowle, 
then  an  archiepiscopal  residence,  and  was  buried  on  the 
north  side  of  the  choir  of  his  cathedral.     His  chief  public 


BOURDALOUE.  Ql 

benefaction  was  the  gift  of  £120  to  the  university  of  Cam- 
bridge ;  this  sum  was  laid  up  with  another  hundred 
pounds,  given  by  Mr.  Billingsforth,  formerly  master  of 
Corpus  Christi  College,  and  the  chest  was  called  Billings- 
forth and  Buurchier's  chest :  the  money  in  the  chest  was 
to  be  lent,  as  occasion  required,  to  poor  scholars. 

Though  Bourchier  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  learning, 
no  writings  of  his  have  descended  to  us,  except  a  few 
synodical  decrees ;  but  he  deserves  especial  mention  as 
being  the  first  who  introduced  the  art  of  printing  into 
this  country.  The  art  had  for  some  time  been  practised 
on  the  continent,  but  the  greatest  secrecy  was  observed 
respecting  the  manner  in  which  the  operation  was  con- 
ducted. The  archbishop  therefore  persuaded  Henry  VI. 
to  send  Tournour  and  Caxton  abroad  in  the  guise  of 
merchants,  (which  Caxton  was,)  to  possess  themselves,  if 
possible,  of  this  important  secret,  which  with  some  diffi- 
culty they  accomplished,  having  persuaded  one  of  the 
compositors,  Frederick  Corselli,  to  carry  off  a  set  of  types, 
and  go  over  with  them  to  England.  Upon  their  arrival, 
the  archbishop,  thinking  Oxford  a  more  convenient  place 
for  printing  than  London,  sent  Corselli  thither ;  and 
lest  he  should  escape  before  he  discovered  the  whole 
secret,  a  guard  was  set  upon  the  press  Thus  the  art  of 
printing  appeared  ten  years  sooner  at  this  university 
than  in  any  other  place  in  Europe,  Harlaem  and  Mentz 
excepted.  Not  long  after,  presses  were  set  up  at  West- 
minster, St   Alban"s,   Worcester,   and   other   monasteries 

of  note. Godwin.    SjJelmcm.    Johnson.    Collier.    Wood. 

Wharton. 


BOUEDALOUE,    LEWIS. 

Lewis  Bouedaloue  was  born  at  Bourges,  August  20th, 
1682,  and  became  a  Jesuit  at  fifteen.  His  talent  for  preach- 
ing made  him  so  popular  in  the  country,  that  his  superiors 
called  him  to  Paris  in  1669,  to  take  the  course  in  their 
church  of   St.  Louis,   which  soon  became  crowded  with 


23  BOURN. 

hearers  of  the  highest  distinction,  and  Louis  XIV.  fre- 
quently listened  with  attention  and  pleasure  to  this 
powerful  preacher,  though  he  manfully  spoke  home  truths 
to  the  monarch  and  his  court.  He  was  sent  into  Lan- 
guedoc  to  convert  the  protestants,  and  it  is  said  that  he 
had  considerable  success  in  this  mission.  In  his  own 
communion,  however,  the  effects  of  his  ministry  was  very 
great,  and  numbers  chose  him  for  their  confessor.  His 
piety  appears  to  have  been  truly  sincere,  and  he  had  a 
very  liberal  disposition  towards  those  from  whom  he  dif- 
fered.    He  died  in  1704. 

Bretonneau,  who  was  also  a  Jesuit,  published  two 
editions  of  his  works,  one  in  14  vols,  8vo,  Paris,  in  1707 
and  following  years,  and  another  in  15  vols,  l'2mo.  The 
former  has  the  preference. — Moreri.    Biog :  GalUca.  Works. 

BOURN,  GILBERT. 

Gilbert  Bourn,  was  the  son  of  Philip  Bourn,  of 
Worcestershire,  and  was  matriculated  at  Oxford  in  15-^4. 
He  was  elected  fellow  of  All  Souls  in  1531.  He  bore 
a  high  character  as  a  logician  and  rhetorician  in  the 
university,  in  which  he  took  his  M.A.  degree  in  153-^. 
The  chapter  of  Worcester  was  new  modeled  under 
Henry  the  Vlllth,  the  regulars  being  dispossessed,  and 
secular  clergy  under  a  dean  being  appointed.  Bourn 
was  one  of  the  first  of  the  new  prebendaries,  being 
appointed  in  1541.  In  the  year  1543  he  took  his  B.I), 
degree  and  became  chaplain  to  the  bishop  of  London, 
(Dr.  Bonner,)  by  whom  he  was  collated  to  the  prebend 
of  Wildland  in  St  Pauls  cathedral  in  1545  ;  a  prebend 
which  he  exchanged  for  that  of  Brownswood  in  1548. 
He  appears,  like  his  patron,  to  have  been  attached  at  first 
to  the  reforming  party  in  our  church,  and  thus  he  was 
preferred,  in  154V),  to  the  archdeaconry  of  Bedford,  and 
soon  after  to  the  rectory  of  High  Ongar  in  Essex. 

There  were  many  things  which  must  have  prepared  the 
mind  of  Bourn  to  change  his  party  when  an  opportunity 


BOURN.  %^ 

occurred.  He  was  a  mild  and  perhaps  an  indolent  man, 
and  by  the  excesses  to  which  the  reformers  of  Edward  VI. 
had  proceeded,  his  conservative  feelings  both  in  church 
and  state  must  have  been  alarmed.  Moreover,  his  personal 
feelings  must  have  been  shocked  by  the  treatment  which 
his  patron,  the  bishop  of  London,  had  experienced.  What- 
ever state  necessity  there  may  have  been  for  the  proceed- 
ings against  the  bishop,  they  must  have  appeared  to  his 
friends  unjust  and  arbitrary.  See  Life  of  Bonner.  We  are 
not  to  be  surprised  at  finding  Bourn  attaching  himself  to 
the  Romanizing  party  in  our  church,  when  at  the  accession 
of  Mary  the  Romanists  came  into  power.  He  took  the 
earliest  opportunity  of  declaring  his  adhesion  to  the  new 
government,  and  at  the  same  time  to  shew  his  gratitude  to 
his  former  patron,  the  atrocity  of  whose  character  had  not 
yet  developed  itself.  He  calculated,  however,  wrongly  on 
the  state  of  public  opinion.  He  evidently  supposed  that 
the  alarm  felt  at  the  excesses  and  ultra-protestantism  of 
Edward's  reformers  had  entirely  pervaded  the  masses  in 
London  as  elsewhere.  He  found  that  he  was  mistaken 
when  he  delivered  the  sermon,  which  from  its  conse- 
quences alone,  has  procured  for  him  a  place  in  history. 
He  was  appointed  to  preach  at  St  Paul's  Cross,  August  13, 
1553,  in  the  presence  of  the  coi'poration  of  London,  several 
of  the  nobility,  and  his  old  patron,  bishop  Bonner.  He 
took  for  his  text  the  passage  on  which  that  prelate  had 
discoursed  from  the  same  place  four  years  before,  warmly 
eulogized  him,  adverted  to  the  hardships  that  he  had 
recently  undergone,  and  attacked  severely  king  Edward's 
religious  policy.  As  he  proceeded,  murmurs  arose,  women 
and  boys  became  violently  excited,  and  even  some  clergy- 
men of  the  reforming  party  who  were  present,  encouraged 
the  general  disgust.  At  length,  caps  were  thrown  into 
the  air,  stones  were  levelled  at  the  preacher,  and  some 
fiery  zealot  completed  the  disgrace  of  the  protestant  party, 
by  hurling  a  dagger  at  the  indiscreet  author  of  so  much 
confusion.  Bourn  escaped  martyrdom  by  stooping  down, 
and  his  brother  besought  Bradford,  eventually  a  martyr, 


'24  BOURNE. 

to  appease,  if  possible,  the  people's  fury.  The  call  be- 
ing readily  obeyed,  a  mild  rebuke  from  one  so  well 
known,  and  so  deservedly  respected,  soon  quelled  the 
spirit  of  outrage.  The  obnoxious  preacher  was  then  con- 
ducted between  Bradford  and  Rogers,  afterwards  martyrs 
in  the  Marian  persecution,  into  St  Pauls  school,  where 
he  remained  until  the  crowd  dispersed. — See  Life  of 
Bradford. 

Bourn  was  afterwards  one  of  the  delegates  appointed  to 
restore  bishop  Bonner  to  the  see  of  London.  It  is  dis- 
graceful to  Bourn  that  when  Bradford  was  brought  into 
trouble,  he  did  not  interfere  to  protect  him.  He  was 
present  on  one  of  the  days  of  Bradford's  trial,  but  he  said 
not  a  single  word  in  his  behalf,  though  the  expressive 
silence  with  which  be  received  Bradford's  appeal  to  him, 
forced  Gardiner  to  abandon  the  charge  of  sedition  brought 
against  him.  Bourn  was  elected  bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells, 
March  28th,  1554,  and  he  continued  in  great  favour 
throughout  queen  Mary's  reign,  being  appointed  president 
of  Wales.  Under  Elizabeth,  he  was  deprived  for  deny- 
ing the  royal  supremacy.  Being  then  committed  to  the 
free  custody  of  the  dean  of  Exeter,  he  gave  himself 
entirely  up  to  reading  and  devotion.  He  died  at  Silver- 
ton,  in  Devonshire,  September  10th,  1569. — Wood.  Fox. 
Strype's  Memorials. 

BOURNE,    IMMANUEL. 

Immanuel  Bourne  was  born  in  Northamptonshire, 
December  27th,  1590,  and  entered  at  Christ  Church,  Ox- 
ford, in  1667.  He  took  his  M.A.  degree  in  1616.  In  1622 
he  was  appointed  to  the  rectory  of  Ashover  in  Derbyshire, 
and  was  noted  as  a  puritan.  When  the  rebellion  broke  out 
he  sided  with  the  rebels  and  became  a  presbyterian.  He 
became  a  popular  preacher  at  St.  Sepulchre's,  and  in  1656 
was  intruded  into  the  living  of  Waltham  in  Leicestershire. 
The  popular  puritan  became  a  conformist  at  the  restora- 
tion, and  in  1669  was  instituted  to  the  rectorv  of  Ailston 


BOYS.  25 

in  Leicestershire.  He  died  on  the  27th  of  December, 
1672.  He  published,  besides  some  occasional  sermons, 
A  Light  from  Christ,  leading  unto  Christ  by  the  Star  of 
His  word ;  or,  a  Divine  Directory  for  Self-Examination 
and  Preparation  for  the  Lord's  Supper,  1645  ;  Defence  of 
Scriptures  as  the  Chief  Judge  of  Controversies,  1656  ; 
Vindication  of  the  Honour  due  to  Magistrates,  Ministers, 
and  others,  against  the  Quakers,  1659  ;  Defence  of  Tjthes, 
Infant  Baptism,  Human  Learning,  and  the  Sword  of  the 
Magistrate,  against  the  Anabaptists  ;  A  Golden  Chain  of 
Directions  to  preserve  Love  between  Husband  and  Wife, 
1^2.— Wood's  Ath. 


BOYS,  OR  BOIS,  JOHN, 

JOHN  BOIS  was  born   at  Nettlestead,  in  Suffolk,  on  the 
5th  January,  1560.    So  precocious  were  the  talents  of  the 
child,  that  at  the  age  of  five  years  he  read  the   Bible  in 
Hebrew.     He  went  afterwards  to  Hadley  school,   and  at 
fourteen  was  admitted  at  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge, 
where  he  distinguished  himself  by  his  skill  in  the  Greek. 
Happening  to  have  the   small  pox  when  he   was  elected 
fellow,   he,  to  preserve  his  seniority,  caused  himself  to  be 
carried,   wrapped  up  in  blankets,  to  be  admitted.     He 
applied  himself  for  some  time  to  the  study  of  medicine, 
but  fancying  himself  affected  with  every  disease  he   read 
of,  he  quitted  that  science,  determining  to  enter  into  tlie 
ministry;  on  the   ^Ist  of  June,    1583,  he  was  ordained 
deacon,  and  next  day,  by  virtue  of  a  dispensation,  priest. 
He  was  ten  years  chief  Greek  lecturer  in  his  college,   and 
read  e^ery  day.     He  voluntarily  read  a  Greek  lecture  for 
some  years,  at  four  in  the  morning,  in  his   own  chamber, 
which  v^'as  frequented  by  many  of  the  fellows.     On  the 
death  of  his   father,  he   succeeded  him  in  the  rectory  of 
West-Stowe  ;  but  his  mother  going  to  live  with  her  brother, 
he  resigned  that  preferment,   though  he  might  have  kept 
it  with  his  fellowship.     At  the  age  of  thirty-six,  he  married 

VOL.  TII.  C 


26  BOYS. 

the  daughter  of  Mr.  Hoh,  rector  of  Boxworth,  in  Cam- 
bridgeshire, whom  he  succeeded  in  that  living  October  the 
loth,  1.596.  On  his  quitting  the  university,  the  college 
gave  him  one  hundred  pounds.  His  young  wife,  who  was 
bequeathed  to  him  with  the  living,  which  was  an  advowson, 
proving  a  bad  economist,  and  he  himself  being  wholly 
addicted  to  his  studies,  he  soon  became  so  much  involved 
in  debt,  that  he  was  forced  to  sell  his  choice  collection  of 
books,  containing  almost  every  Greek  author  then  extant, 
to  a  loss  as  great  as  the  sum  to  which  the  debt  paid  by  its 
produce  amounted.  The  loss  of  his  library  afflicted  him 
so  much,  that  he  had  thought  of  quitting  his  native  coun- 
try. He  was  however  soon  reconciled  to  his  wife,  and  he 
even  continued  to  leave  all  domestic  affairs  to  her  manage- 
ment. He  entered  into  an  agreement  with  twelve  of  the 
neighbouring  clergy,  to  meet  every  Friday  at  one  of  their 
houses  by  turns,  to  give  an  account  of  their  studies.  He 
usually  kept  some  young  scholar  in  his  house,  to  instruct 
his  own  children,  and  the  poorer  sort  of  the  town,  as  well 
as  several  gentlemen's  children,  who  were  boarded  with 
him.  When  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible  was,  by  king 
James  I.,  directed  to  be  made,  Mr.  Bois  was  elected  one 
of  the  Cambridge  translators.  He  performed  not  only  his 
own,  but  also  the  part  assigned  to  another,  whose  name 
has  not  transpired,  with  great  reputation,  though  with  no 
profit,  for  he  had  no  allowance  but  his  commons.  He 
was  indeed  to  have  been  one  of  the  fellows  of  the  new 
college  at  Chelsea,  which  it  was  then  in  contemplation  to 
found,  but  as  the  project  died  away,  he  was  disappointed. 
He  was  not  only  a  translator  of  the  Bible,  but  also  one  of 
the  six  who  met  at  Stationers'  Hall  to  revise  the  whole  ; 
which  task  they  went  through  in  nine  months,  having 
each  from  the  company  of  stationers  during  that  time 
thirty  shillings  a  week.  He  afterwards  assisted  Sir  Henry 
Savile,  in  publishing  the  works  of  St.  Chrysostom.  A 
present  of  a  single  copy  of  the  book  was  the  whole  reward 
of  many  years'  labour  spent  upon  it.    This  disappointment 


BOYS.  f^7 

was  owing  to  the  death  of  Sir  Henry  Savile,  who  intended 
to  have  made  him  fellow  of  Eton.  In  1615,  Dr.  Lancelot 
Andre wes,  bishop  of  Ely,  bestowed  on  him,  unasked,  a  pre- 
bend in  his  church.  He  died  on  the  14th  January,  1613, 
in  the  84th  year  of  his  age.  Although  he  left  behind  him 
a  great  mass  of  MSS.,  the  only  work  he  published  was 
Johannis  Boisii  Veteris  Interpretis  cum  Beza  ahisque 
recentioribus  Collatio,  in  iv.  Evangeliis  et  Actis  Apostolo- 
rum,  Lond.  1655,  4to;  the  object  of  which  was  to  defend 
the  vulgate  version  of  the  Xew  Testament.  When  he  was 
a  young  man  he  received  from  Dr.  Whitaker  three  rules 
for  avoiding  the  diseases  to  which  literary  men  are  subject 
—  1.  to  read  standing  ;  2.  not  to  read  near  a  window  :  and 
3.  not  to  go  to  bed  with  the  feet  cold  :  and  by  following 
these  and  some  other  sanatory  precepts,  his  life  was  not 
only  prolonged  to  a  great  age,  but  it  is  said  that  when  he 
died  his  brow  was  without  wrinkles,  his  sight  quick,  his 
hearing  sharp,  his  countenance  fresh,  and  his  body  sound. 
— Anthony  Walker  in  Pedis  Desiderata  Curiosa.  Wijod's 
Fasti.     Fuller. 


BOYS,    JOHN. 

John  Boys  was  born  in  1571,  of  a  family  that  came  into 
Kent  at  the  Conquest;  he  was  educated  at  Coi-pus  Christi 
College,  Cambridge,  from  whence  he  was  elected  fellow  of 
Clare  Hall.  Sir  John  Boys,  his  uncle,  presented  him  to  the 
livings  of  Bettishanger  and  the  adjoining  parish  of  Tilman- 
stone,  near  Deal ;  and  archbishop  Whitgift  collated  him  to 
the  mastership  of  Eastbridge  hospital,  in  Canterbury.  He 
took  his  doctor's  degree  and  became  a  "powerful  preacher.'' 
He  found  a  new  patron  in  archbishop  Abbot  who  collated 
him  to  the  rectory  of  Great  Mongeham  in  1618.  He  was 
appointed  by  James  I.  dean  of  Canterbury,  May,  16J9. 
This  dignity,  however,  he  did  not  enjoy  long,  dying  sud- 
denly in  his  study,  September  26,  1625,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-four.  His  chief  work  is  his  Postils,  or  a  series  of 
Discourses  on  the  Epistles,  Gospels,  &c.,  of  the  Christian 


S8  BRADBURY. 

Year.  He  was  a  violent  opponent  of  popery,  and  was  the 
author  of  the  following  profane  parody  on  the  Lord's 
Prayer  :  "  Papa  noster  qui  es  Romae,  maledicetur  nomen 
tuum,  intereat  regnum  tuum,  impediatur  voluntas  tuu, 
sicut  in  ccelo  sic  et  in  terra :" — but  the  whole  of  the 
blasphemy  we  forbear  to  quote,  only  alluding  to  the 
subject  to  shew  the  irreverence  of  ultra-protestantism. 
It  is  said  that  Dr.  Boys  did  not  invent,  but  only  quoted 
with  approbation,  this  perversion  of  the  Lord  s  Prayer 
into  a  malediction.     In  1631    "  certain  sermons"  of  his 

were    printed. Todd's  Deans   of  Canterhury.     Fuller. 

Wood.    Granger. 

BEADBUKY,   THOMAS. 

Thomas  Beadbuey  was  born  at  Wakefield,  in  1677,  and 
became  a  dissenting  preacher  at  eighteen  years  of  age.  As 
a  preacher  he  was  distinguished  for  his  buffoonery,  and 
men  w^ent  to  his  meeting-house  to  be  amused  by  his  jokes. 
For  twenty  years  he  thus  preached  at  a  meeting-house  in 
Fetter-lane,  London,  and  afterwards  succeeded  Daniel 
Burgess,  another  preaching  joker,  at  the  meeting-house  of 
New-court,  Carey  street.  So  obtuse  was  the  sense  of  pro- 
priety in  Bogue,  the  historian  of  dissent,  that  he  remarks, 
on  Bradbury's  translation  to  New-court,  "  This  pulpit  a 
second  time  presented  a  phenomenon  as  rare  as  it  is 
henejicial,  wit  consecrated  to  the  services  of  serious  and 
eternal  truth." — (Bogue,  vol.  ii.  p.  403.)  Among  the 
standing  objects  of  his  mirth  was  the  religious  poetry  of 
Dr.  Watts.  He  thus  used,  accordingly,  to  give  out  a 
hymn  from  that  writer,  it  may  be  hoped  only  when  in  a 
sillier  mood  than  common,  "Let  us  sing  one  of  Dr. 
VVatts's  Whims."  At  another  time,  preaching  before  an 
association  of  ministers  at  Salter's  Hall,  on  the  Arian 
controversy,  he  exclaimed,  "  Y^'ou  who  are  not  ashamed  to 
own  the  deity  of  our  Lord  follow  me  to  the  gallery,"  to 
which  he  immediately  bent  his  way :  but  some  of  the 
opposite  party  beginning  to  hiss,  he  turned  round,  and 


BRADFORD.  -^9 

said,  "  I  have  been  pleading  for  Him  who  bruised  the 
serpent's  head ;  no  wonder  the  seed  of  the  sei'pent  should 
hiss."  His  favourite  meal  was  supper,  before  sitting 
down  to  which,  he  was  accustomed  to  expound  and  pray  ; 
afterwards  he  entertained  his  company  with  '•  The  Roast- 
Beef  of  Old  England,"  in  singing  which  he  was  considered 
to  excel.  After  entertaining  the  public  with  this  facetious 
preaching,  and  these  anti-monastic  revelries  for  thirty-two 
years,  he  died  September  9th,  1759,  deeply  regretted  by 
the  great  body  of  dissenters.  His  works,  consisting  of 
fifty-four  sermons,  were  published  in  176'2,  in  three 
volumes,  8vo,  They  are  chiefly  political,  and  it  was 
remarked  at  the  time  of  their  publication,  that  "  from 
the  great  number  of  sacred  texts  api:)lied  to  the  occasion, 
one  would  imagine  from  these  discourses  the  Bible 
written  only  to  confirm  by  divine  authority  the  benefits 
accruing  to  this  natim  from  the  accession  of  king 
William  III." 

Mr.  X.  Xtal,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Doddridge,  on  the 
publication  of  some  of  Bradbury's  sermons,  observes, 
"  I  have  seen  Mr  Bradbury's  sermons,  just  pub- 
lished, the  nonsense  and  buffoonery  of  which  would  make 
one  laugh,   if  his  impious    insults  over  the  pious    dead 

did    not    make     one    tremble." Boc/ue.      Doddridge's 

Letters. 


BRADFORD,    JOHN. 

John  Bradford  was  born  at  Manchester  in  the  early 
part  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIIL,  and  was  educated 
at  the  grammar  school  there  ;  he  became  distinguished 
as  an  accountant.  This  accomplishment  procured  for 
him  the  place  of  clerk  or  secretaiy  to  Sir  John  Har- 
rington, who  was  treasurer  of  the  royal  camps  and 
buildings.  Sir  John  Harrington  placed  entire  confidence 
in  his  integrity  as  well  as  in  his  ability,  but  unfortunately 
overrated  his  superiority  to  temptation.  Bradford  appro- 
c-2 


30  BRADFORD. 

priated  to  his  own  use,  one  hundred  and  forty  pounds 
belonging  to  the  crown.  Some  protestant  historians, 
blinded  by  party  feeling,  endeavour  to  palliate  the  crime 
of  one  who  became  afterwards  so  distinguished.  But 
the  real  defence  of  Bradford  is  this,  that  he  did  deeply 
and  truly  repent,  that  he  deplored  to  the  end  of  life 
his  "great  thing,"  as  he  sorrowfully  termed  his  act  of 
peculation,  and  that,  when  his  mind  was  enlightened  as 
to  the  nature  of  his  sin,  and  his  Conscience  reproached 
him,  he  became  his  own  accuser,  and  took  measures  to 
make  restitution.  It  is  doubtful  whether  he  was  first 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  his  sin  under  the  preaching  of 
bishop  Latimer,  but  under  the  agonies  of  an  accusing 
conscience  he  certainly  applied  to  him  as  a  spiritual  advi- 
ser. The  idea  had  struck  Bradford  that  in  order  to  raise 
the  requisite  sum,  and  to  make  restitution,  he  might  sell 
his  services  for  a  stipulated  period  or  even  permanently  ; 
as  was  not  imusual  among  the  ancient  Israelites.  Lati- 
mer was  at  the  time  when  Bradford  sent  to  consult  him 
on  this  point,  engaged  in  the  composition  of  a  sermon  to 
be  preached  before  the  king,  and  evidently  did  not  give 
proper  attention  to  this  case  of  conscience.  He  sent  a 
very  unsatisfactory  answer  that  the  case  had  better  be  left 
in  the  hands  of  God.  But  Bradford  found  more  sub- 
stantial relief  from  Sir  John  Harrington  himself,  who 
generously  consented  to  satisfy  the  crown,  and  to  accept 
his  dependant's  security  for  repayment  to  himself. 

Bradford,  dismissed  from  his  employment,  studied  for 
some  time  in  the  Inner  Temple,  where  he  is  said  to  have 
heard  more  sermons  than  law  lectures.  He  soon  attached 
himself  with  characteristic  zeal  to  that  party  in  our 
beloved  church  v/hich  was  labouring  for  its  reformation. 
A  movement  party  always  attaches  to  itself  the  more 
earnest  minds,  anxious  for  improvement  in  others  as  well 
as  in  themselves ;  but  as  they  are  not  always  the  most 
judicious  or  the  best  informed,  the  reforming  party,  [now, 
in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,]   in  pov/er,  was  anxious  to 


BRADFORD.  31 

employ  all  who  united  with  zeal  and  eloquence,  a  sound 
judgment  and  competent  learning.  Bradford  was,  there- 
fore, easily  persuaded  to  prepare  himself  for  employment 
in  the  church,  and  accordingly  went  to  Cambridge. 
Here  he  soon  found  a  patron  in  Dr.  Ridley,  bishop  of 
Rochester,  and  master  of  Pembroke  Hall.  He  had 
entered  at  Catherine  Hall,  but  became  a  fellow  soon  after 
of  Ridley's  college.  His  modesty  was  as  conspicuous  as 
his  piety  while  at  Cambridge.  The  manner  of  his  laying 
his  past  sins  before  his  eyes,  by  the  catalogues  he  made 
of  them,  and  his  inward  and  retired  exercise  of  prayer ; 
his  praying  with  himself,  as  well  as  with  his  pupils  ;  and, 
above  all,  the  diary  he  kept  of  whatever  was  remarkable 
and  serviceable  to  his  steady  advancement  in  the  practice 
of  piety,  are  particularly  described  among  his  exercises, 
whilst  he  was  at  the  university,  by  Martin  Bucer,  who 
could  best  do  it;  more  especially  of  this  last  task,  he 
speaks  in  these  words  :  "  He  used  to  make  unto  himself 
an  ephemeris,  or  a  journal,  in  which  he  used  to  write  all 
such  notable  things  as  either  he  did  see  or  hear,  each  day 
that  passed.  But  whatsoever  he  did  hear  or  see,  he  did 
so  pen  it,  that  a  man  might  see  in  that,  the  signs  of  his 
smitten  heart.  For  if  he  did  see  or  hear  any  good  in  any 
man;  by  that  sight,  he  found  and  noted  the  want  thereof 
in  himself ;  and  added  a  short  prayer,  craving  mercy  and 
grace  to  amend.  If  he  did  hear  or  see  any  misery,  he 
noted  it,  as  a  thing  procured  by  his  own  sins ;  and  still 
added  Domine  misere  mei  :  Lord  have  mercy  upon  me. 
He  used  in  the  same  book,  to  note  such  evil  thoughts  as 
did  rise  in  him ;  as  of  envying  the  good  of  other  men  ; 
thoughts  of  unthankfulness  ;  of  not  considering  God  in 
His  works  ;  of  hardness  and  unsensibleness  of  heart  when 
he  did  see  others  moved  and  afflicted  :  and  thus  he  made 
to  himself  and  of  himself,  a  book  of  daily  practices  of 
repentance." 

It  seems  that  the  reforming  party  were  so  anxious  to  em- 
ploy him  that  he  obtained,  probably  by  royal  mandate,  and 
through  Ridley's  interest,  the  degree  ox  M.A.  before  the 


S'^  BRADFORD. 

termination  of  his  first  year's  residence.  In  1550,  when 
Dr.  Ridley  was  translated  to  the  see  of  London,  that  great 
prelate  ordained  Bradford  a  deacon,  somewhat  irregularly, 
and  soon  after  made  him  his  chaplain,  and  preferred  him 
to  a  prebend  in  St.  Paul's.  In.  December  this  year  he 
received  a  license  of  preaching.  In  the  year  following  it 
was  thought  fit  that  the  king  should  retain  six  chaplains, 
who  should  not  only  in  their  turn  be  in  waiting  upon 
him,  but  should  act  also  as  itinerant  preachers,  to  excite 
as  well  as  instruct  the  people.  Bradford  was  nominated 
as  one  of  the  six,  but  for  some  cause  or  other  the  number 
was  reduced  to  four,  and  Bradford  was  one  of  the  two 
excluded  from  the  appointment.  That  he  became  a 
popular  preacher  is  clear  :  he  was  not  perhaps  the  most 
dignified  or  reverential  of  his  class  ;  but  if  he  was  some- 
thing of  a  demagogue  as  well  as  a  preacher,  he  fearlessly 
maintained  his  principles  when  preaching  before  the  great. 
Bishop  Ridley  said  of  him,  that  he  was  one  of  those 
preachers  who  "  ripped  so  deeply  in  the  galled  backs  of 
the  great  men  of  the  court,  as  to  have  purged  them  of  the 
filthy  matter  that  was  festered  in  their  hearts,  of  insatia- 
ble covetousness,  filthy  carnality,  and  voluptuousness, 
intolerable  ambition  and  pride,  and  ungodly  loathsome- 
ness to  hear  poor  men's  causes  and  God's  word  ;  that  him 
of  all  other  they  could  not  abide."  But  there  is  yet  higher 
testimony  borne  in  his  favour  by  bishop  Ridley :  he  says 
of  him  .  "  He  is  a  man  by  whom,  as  I  am  assuredly 
informed,  God  doth  work  wonders  in  setting  forth  His 
word." 

His  influence  with  the  mob  was  clearly  proved  at  the 
commencement  of  queen  Mary's  reign.  Bourn,  [see  his 
life]  one  of  the  royal  chaplains,  was  appointed  to  preach 
at  St.  Paul's  Cross.  A  mob  was  assembled  to  hear  him  ; 
as  the  romanizing  party  declared,  a  packed  mob,  assembled 
for  tbe  purpose  of  insulting  him,  if,  as  was  suspected,  he 
should  censure  the  proceedings  of  the  late  king's  govern- 
ment. Bourn  complained  of  the  conduct  of  the  reformers 
when  in  power.     Pull  him  down,  suddenly  exclaimed  a 


BRADFORD.  33 

voice  in  the  crowd.    The  cry  was  echoed  by  several  groups 
of  women  and   children.      A  dagger  was  hurled   at  the 
preacher  by  one  of  the  protestant  zealots,  which  narrowly 
missed  him.    Bourn  turned  about,  and  perceiving  Bradford 
behind  him,  he  earnestly  begged  him  to  come  forwards  and 
pacify  the  people.     Bradford  was  no   sooner  in  his  place, 
and  recommended  peace  and  concord  to  them,  than  with 
a  joyful  shout  at  the  sight  of  him,  they  cried  out,  "  Brad- 
ford, Bradford,  God  save  thy  hfe,  Bradford  !"'  and  then, 
with    profound    attention    to    his    discourse,    heard    him 
enlarge  upon  peaceful  and  Christian  obedience  ;    which 
when  he  had  finished,   the  tumultuous  people,   for  the 
most  part,  dispersed  ;  but,  among  the  rest  who  persisted, 
there  was  a  certain  gentleman,  with  his  two  servants,  who, 
coming  up  the  pulpit    stairs,   rushed   against  the  door, 
demanding  entrance  upon  Bourn  ;  Bradford  resisted  him, 
till  he  had  secretly  given  Bourn  warning,  by  his  servant, 
to  escape  ;  who,   flying  to  the  mayor,  once  again  escaped 
death.     Yet  conceiving  the  danger  not  fully  over,  Bourn 
besought  Bradford  not  to  leave  him  till  he  was  got  to  some 
place  of  security ;  in  which  Bradford  again  obliged  him, 
and  went  at  his  back,  shadowing  him  from  the  people  with 
his  gown,   while  the  mayor  and  sheriffs,  on  each  side,  led 
him  into  the  nearest  house,  which  was  St.  Paul's  school ; 
and  so  was  he  a  third  time  delivered  from  the  fury  of  the 
populace.    It  is  added  that  one  of  the  mob,  most  inveterate 
against  Bourn,  exclaimed,  "Ah !  Bradford,  Bradford,  dost 
thou  save  his  life  who  will  not  spare  thine  ?     Go,  I  give 
thee  his  life  ;  but  were  it  not  for  thy  sake,  I  would  thrust 
him  through  with  my  sword."     The  same  Sunday,  in  the 
afternoon,   Bradford  preached  at  Bow  church,  in  Cheap- 
side,  and  sharply  rebuked  the  people  for  their  outrageous 
behaviour. 

The  government  accused  the  reforming  party  of  having 
caused  the  tumult  which  had  thus  endangered  the  public 
peace,  and  every  one  will  admit  that  the  violence  exhibited, 
and  the  attempt  to  assassinate  the  preacher  on  the  part  of 
the  protestants,  were  sufficient  to  excite  alarm.     As  Brad- 


34  BRADFORD. 

ford's  influence  was  so  successful  in  appeasing  the  riot 
when  he  thought  fit  to  interfere,  it  was  presumed  from 
the  fact  that  he  did  not  interfere  sooner,  that  the  previous 
proceedings  had  met  with  his  sanction,  and  that  the  whole 
had  been  preconcerted  by  him.  Three  days  after  his  in- 
terposition in  behalf  of  Bourn,  he  was  summoned  before 
the  council,  and  committed  to  prison  in  the  Tower.  His 
defence,  that  he  had  preached  strongly  that  day  against 
popular  licentiousness,  will  not  weigh  much  with  those 
who  remember  that  this  is  the  constant  course  pursued  by 
demagogues  ;  while  calling  masses  together  whom  they 
know  to  be  bent  on  violence,  they  seek  to  escape  responsi- 
bility, by  warning  them  of  the  duty  of  acting  peaceably. 
The  real  vindication  of  Bradford  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  nothing  could  be  proved  against  him,  shewn  by  the  fact 
that  he  lay  in  prison  for  a  year  and  a  half  without  being 
brought  to  a  trial.  It  is  indeed  highly  probable  that  the 
reforming  party  had  endeavoured  to  surround  the  out-door 
pulpit  at  St.  Paul's  Cross  with  their  own  mob,  and 
Bradford  may  have  been  glad  to  see  himself  surrounded 
by  those  with  whom  he  was  popular  as  an  orator,  but 
there  does  not  appear  anything  in  his  character  to  justify 
the  suspicion  that  he  was  himself  guilty  of  sedition. 

In  the  Tower  he  was  confined  in  the  same  chamber  as 
the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  bishop  of  London,  and 
bishop  Latimer.  However  inconvenient  this  was,  they 
were  very  glad  to  be  together,  and  read  over  the  New 
Testament  with  deliberation  and  study,  to  ascertain  whe- 
ther there  was  any  foundation  for  the  popish  doctrine  of  a 
corporal  presence,  a  subject  upon  which  they  knew  they 
should  be  examined,  as  it  was  the  test  of  Romanism  in 
that  age. 

After  a  confinement  in  the  Tower,  lasting  for  three 
quarters  of  a  year,  Bradford  was  removed  to  the  Queens 
Bench  prison,  where  he  was  treated  with  remarkable 
kindness.  He  preached  twice  every  day,  and  administered 
the  Holy  Communion,  for  he  believed  it  to  be  a  sacrament 
generally  necessary  to  salvation.      Visitors  to  form  the 


BRADFORD.  35 

congregation  eagerly  sought  the  privilege  of  passing  the 
prison-gates,  and  he  was  permitted  by  his  keepers  in  the 
night  time  to  visit  the  sick  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  prison.  He  lived,  nevertheless,  ascetically  :  he  allowed 
himself  only  four  hours  sleep  ;  he  ate  but  once  a  day,  and 
that  very  sparingly,  and  once  a-week  he  visited  the 
malefactors,  who  were  confined  in  dungeons  near  his  own 
apartment.  At  the  same  time  he  wrote  numerous  letters 
to  those  who  were  disquieted  by  the  persecution  ;  espe- 
cially did  he  labour  to  expose  the  dissimulation  of  those 
who  in  appearance  renounced  the  principles  they  formerly 
professed.  There  were  many  who  were  ultra-protestants 
in  Edward's  reign,  who  now  attended  the  mass,  which 
was  again  celebrated  in  our  church  after  the  Romish 
manner,  although  they  declared  themselves,  to  their  con- 
fidential friends,  unchanged  in  their  principles ;  avowing 
that  their  outward  conformity  was  extorted  from  them  by 
the  fear  of  bringing  ruin  upon  their  families.  Bradford, 
with  the  violence  of  language  which  was  peculiar  to  him, 
designated  these  persons  as  "  mangy  mongrels,"  and  he 
pronounced  an  unqualified  and  just  condemnation  on 
their  worldly  prudence.  He  even  wrote  a  treatise,  attack- 
ing the  mass,  and  shewing  the  mischief  of  affording  to  it 
any  degree  of  countenance. 

It  was  one  of  the  sad  circumstances  of  the  time,  that 
such  a  man  as  Bradford,  instead  of  calmly  preparing  his 
soul  for  the  change  awaiting  him,  like  the  martyrs  of  old, 
should  be  violently  engaged  in  controversy  to  the  last. 
We  are  told  that  he  found  comfort,  not  only  in  prayer,  but 
in  religious  argument.  True  religion  generally  comes  not 
by  argument,  but  by  inheritance  and  instruction ;  it  is 
sad  when  vital  points  require  to  be  argued,  and  sadder 
still  when  a  disputatious  turn  of  mind  is,  in  consequence, 
formed  in  an  individual.  When  Bradford  found  none 
others  with  whom  to  quarrel,  he  quarrelled  with  his  fellow 
X)risoners,  too  ready,  many  of  them,  to  indulge  the  con- 
troversial temper  to  which  they  were  habituated,  by  un- 
seemly   and    useless  disputes.       Their   grated   chambers 


36  BRADFORD. 

often  exhibited  that  picture  of  contention  which  we  may 
expect  to  find  in  the  unrenewed  man,  but  which  shocks  us 
when   exhibited   by   the  professors   of  godliness.      They 
found   a  source  of  tumultuous  interest  in  ardent  discus- 
sions upon  the  most  mysterious  dispensations  of  provi- 
dence ;  free-will  and  predestination  were  topics  in  which 
these  unhappy  men  beguiled  the  gloomy  monotony  of  their 
prison-hours.     The  disputants  eventually    ranged  them- 
selves in  parties,   viewing  each  other  wdth  considerable 
aversion.    Bradford  was  actively  engaged  in  their  unhappy 
dissensions,   and  took  the  predestinarian  side.     Bradford 
was   told  by  his  opponents,  that  "he  was  a  great  slander 
to  the  word  of  God  in  respect  of  his  doctrine,  in  that  he 
believed  and  affirmed  the  salvation  of  Gods  children  to  be 
so  certain,  that  they  should  assuredly  enjoy  the  same. 
For,  they  said,  it  hanged  partly  upon  our  perseverance  to 
the  end.     Bradford  said,   it  hung  upon  God's  grace  in 
Christ;  and   not  upon  our   perseverance   in    any  point: 
for  then  were  grace  no  grace.     They  charged  him,  that 
he  was  not  so  kind  to  them  as  he  ought  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  charity  money,  that  was  then  sent  by  well- 
disposed  persons  to  the  prisoners  in  Christ,   [of  which 
Bradford  was   the  purse-bearer :]   but  he  assured  them  he 
never  defrauded  them  of  the  value  of  a  penny:  and  at  that 
time  sent  them  at  once  thirteen  shillings  and  fourpence  ; 
and,  if  they  needed  as  much  more,  he  promised  that  they 
should  have  it," 

By  Bradford,  his  brother  reforaiers  were  accused  of 
being  "plain  Papists,  yea  Pelagians."  It  seems  strange  to 
hear  those  who  were  imprisoned  by  the  papists,  and  some 
of  whom  suffered  death  as  reformers,  accused  of  being 
papists ;  but  so  it  was.  The  accusation  is  made  in  a 
letter  he  wrote  to  the  archbishop  of  Canterbuiy  and 
bishops  Ridley  and  Latimer,  prisoners  in  Oxford.  What 
were  the  sentiments  of  Cranmer  and  Latimer  on  the  sub- 
ject there  are  no  documents  to  shew  ;  but  a  letter  from 
Ridley  still  remains,  which  clearly  shews  the  opinion  of 
that  eminent  prelate,  on  the  abstruse  questions,  concern- 


BRADFORD.  37 

ing  which  Bradford  contended  with  such  intemperate 
eagerness.  That  Bradford,  in  the  judgment  of  Ridley, 
laid  too  great  a  stress  on  these  doctrines,  is  indisputable  : 
Ridley  thought  that  Bradford  had  over- rated  both  "  the 
importance  of  the  controvei'sy  and  the  influence  of  his 
adversaries."  But  it  may  be  also  fairly  concluded,  from 
the  letter  of  Ridley,  that  he  could  not  go  so  far  as  Brad- 
ford in  the  doctrines  of  election  and  predestination.  After 
having  stated  that  he  had  selected  all  the  passages  in  the 
New  Testament  which  had  a  bearing  on  these  points,  and 
that  he  had  written  remarks  on  the  several  texts,  he 
summed  up  the  matter  in  a  sentence,  which,  for  its 
moderation  and  its  humility,  can  never  be  repeated  with- 
out good  effect :  "  In  those  matters  I  am  so  fearful,  that 
I  dare  not  speak  farther ;  yea,  almost  none  otherwise  than 
the  text  doth,  as  it  were,  lead  me  by  the  hand."  Whether 
Bradford  retained  his  sentiments  is  immaterial ;  for  if  he 
did  not  change  his  opinions,  he  moderated  his  violence. 
When  he  found  that  he  was  unable  to  convince  his  fellow 
sufferers,  he  desired  that  they  might  pray  for  each  other. 
"  I  love  you,"  he  wrote  to  them,  "  though  you  have  taken 
it  otherwise  without  cause  ;  I  am  going  before  you  to  my 
God  and  your  God,  to  my  Father  and  your  Father,  to  my 
Christ  and  your  Christ,  to  my  home  and  your  home." 

During  their  progress  an  attempt  was  made  to  terminate 
these  contentions,  by  the  preparation  of  articles  which 
appeared  likely  to  shock  the  prejudices  of  neither  party. 
These  compromises  never  succeed  when  men,  whether 
right  or  wrong,  are  in  earnest :  the  more  violent  predesti- 
nariaus,  after  giving  hopes  that  they  would  unite  with 
their  brethren,  refused  their  signature  to  the  propositions 
awaiting  their  attestation. 

In  1555  the  persecution  was  renewed  with  increased 
violence,  and  the  death  of  Bradford  was  determined  upon. 
His  constancy  unto  death  was  the  more  meritorious,  as  his 
nature  shrunk  with  horror  from  the  tortures  which  were 
prepared  for  him.      His  imagination  was  often  haunted 

VOL.  III.  D 


33  BRADFORD. 

in   his    sleep  by   frightful    pictures   of  the  horrors  that 
awaited  him.     But  he  found  grace  to  stand  firm.     Some 
of  the  leaders  of  the  Romanizing  party  had  hopes,  perhaps, 
for  some  time,   by  their  gentle  treatment  of  him,  to  win 
over  to  their  side  one  whose  popular  talents  would  have 
been  peculiarly  serviceable  to  them.      Bishop  Gardiner, 
now  chancellor,  and  Dr.  Bonner,  bishop  of  London,  treated 
him   with  their  accustomed  injustice,   and  tried,  but  in 
vain,  to  substantiate   against  him  the  old  charge  of  sedi- 
tion ;  but  Bradford  most  ably  defended  himself.     At  one 
time  they  brought  Dr.  Bourn,   now  bishop  of  Bath  and 
Wells,  into  court,  with  the  intention,  it  w^ould  appear,  of 
making  him  a  witness  against  the  accused  for  his  conduct 
at  St.  Paul's  Cross.     But  bishop  Bourn,  though  he  had 
not  courage  to  accuse  one  who  preserved  his  life  from  the 
violence  of  the  protestant  mob  on  that  occasion,  had  too 
much  principle  to  take  part  against  him,  and  was  silent. 
Bishop   Gardiner  now   abandoned  the  charge  of  sedition, 
and  determined  to  proceed  against  him  as  a  heretic.     An 
altercation  arose  respecting  the  corporal  presence,  in  which 
Bradford  maintained  his  view  of  the  question  with  the 
acuteness  and  spirit  of  an  habitual  polemic.     The  follow- 
ing were   Bradford's  definitions  upon  this  subject  in  his 
last  examination :  "I  never  denied  nor  taught,  but  that 
to  faith,   whole  Christ,  body  and  blood,  was  as  present 
as  bread   and  wine  to  the  due  receiver.     I  believe  Christ 
is  present  there  to  the  faith  of  the  due  receiver.     As  for 
transubstantiation,  I  plainly  and  flatly  tell  you  I  believe 
it  not.     I  deny  that  He  (Christ)  is  included  in  the  bread, 
or   that   the    bread   is    transubstantiate."      Being   asked 
whether  the  wicked  receive  Christ's  body,  he  answered  at 
once,  "  No.     He  further  said,  that  as  the  cup  is  the  New 
Testament,    so  the  bread   is   Christ's  body  to  him  that 
receiveth  it  duly,  but  yet  so  that  the  bread  is  bread." 
(Foxe,  1463.)     In  a  letter,  which  he  found  the  means  of 
writing,    after   his   condemnation,    to   the  protestants  of 
Manchester,  he  thus  expresses  himself:   "  In  the  Supper 


BRADFORD.  3P 

of  our  Lord,  or  Sacrament  of  Christ's  bodj  and  blood,  I 
confess  and  believe  that  there  is  a  tiue  and  very  presence 
of  whole  Christ,  God  and  man,  to  the  faith  of  the  receiver, 
but  not  of  the  stander-by,  or  looker  on ;  as  there  is  a  very 
true  presence  of  bread  and  wine  to  the  senses  of  him  that 
is  partaker  thereof."  (Letters  of  the  Martyrs,   265.)     "  I 
cannot,  dare  not,   nor  will  not  confess  ti-ansubstantiation, 
and  how  that  wicked  men,  yea,  mice  and  dogs,  eating  the 
sacrament,  (which  they  term  of  the  altar,   thereby  over- 
throwing  Christ's   holy  supper  utterly)  do   eat   Christ's 
natural  and  real    body  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary.       To 
believe  and  confess,  as  God's  word  teacheth,  as. the  primi- 
tive  Church  believed,  and  all  the  Catholic,   and  good  holy 
fathers  taught  for  500  years  at  the  least  after  Christ,  that 
in  the  Supper  of  the  Lord,  (which  the  mass  overthroweth, 
as  it  doth  Christ's  priesthood,  sacrifice,  death,  and  passion, 
the  ministry  of  His  w^ord,  true  faith,  repentance,  and  all 
godliness,)  whole  Christ,  God  and  man,  is  present,  by  grace, 
to  the  faith  of  the  receivers,  but  not  of  the  standers-by, 
and  lookers-on,  as  the  bread  and  wine  is  to  their  senses ; 
will  not  serve,  and  therefore,  I  am  condemned,   and  shall 
be  burned  out  of  hand  as  an  heretic."     (Bradford  to  the 
faithful  at  Walden.   Ibid.   270.)      The  following  is    his 
advice  to  a  friend  as  to  the  answer  proper  to  be  given  upon 
this  subject.    "  If  they  talk  wdth  you  of  Christ's  Sacrament 
instituted  by   Him,   whether  it  be   Christ's  body  or  no, 
answer  them,  that  as  to  the  eyes  of  your  reason,  to  your 
taste  and  corporal  senses,  it  is  bread  and  wine,  and  there- 
fore the  Scripture  calleth  it  after  consecration  so ;  even  to 
the  eyes,  taste,  and  senses  of  your  faith,  which  ascendeth 
to  the  right  hand  of  God  in  heaven,  where  Christ  sitteth, 
it  is  in  very  deed  Christ's  body  and  blood,  which  spiritually 
3'our  soul  feedeth  on  to  everlasting  life,  in  faith  and  by 
faith,  even  as  your  body  presently  feedeth  on  the  sacra- 
mental bread  and  sacramental  wine."     {Ibid.  39L) 

Enough  was  extracted  from  him  to  prove  that  he  dis- 
beheved  the  Romish  theory  of  transubstantiation,  and  he 
was  condemned.     After  condemnation  he  was  carried  first 


40  BRADFORD. 

to  the  Clink-prison,  and  afterwards  to  the  Poultry-compter. 
Several  ecclesiastics  on  the  Romish  side,  English  and 
Spanish,  visited  his  cell,  to  endeavour  to  make  him  recant. 
In  answering  what  was  advanced  on  the  subject  of  tran- 
substantiation,  Bradford  repeatedly  mentioned  bishop 
Tunstalls  admission,  that  before  the  fourth  council  of 
Lateran,  Christians  were  not  bound  to  receive  the  eucha- 
ristic  doctrine,  exactly  as  it  is  now  taught  in  the  Roman 
church. 

Bradford  expected  that  he  should  sujQfer  in  his  native 
town  of  Manchester ;  but  he  actually  met  his  death  in 
Smithfield,  on  the  first  of  July,  1555.  On  the  night 
preceding,  the  keeper's  wife  approached  with  an  agitated 
countenance,  and  said,  "  Oh,  master  Bradford,  this  night 
you  must  leave  us  for  Newgate,  and  to-morrow  you  will  be 
burned."  Bradford  instantly  put  off  his  cap,  thanked 
God  for  the  news,  expressed  his  readiness  to  take  leave  of 
mortality,  and  prayed  that  he  might  act  worthily  of  the  end 
to  which  heaven  had  called  him.  He  was  not  removed 
until  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  and  as 
he  passed  through  the  yard  the  miserable  inmates  of  the 
gaol,  crowding  around  the  grated  apertures  of  their  cells, 
wept  at  his  departure,  and  warmly  bade  him  farewell. 
Late  as  was  the  hour,  on  entering  the  street,  he  found  a 
multitude  of  people  waiting  for  a  sight  of  him ;  nor  did 
sobs,  prayers,  and  affectionate  adieus,  intermit  for  a 
moment  during  his  progress  to  Newgate.  A  rumour  had 
gone  abroad,  that  he  was  to  suffer  by  four  o'clock  on  the 
following  morning;  and,  accordingly,  Smithfield  was 
crowded  at  that  hour.  He  did  not,  however,  appear  there 
before  nine  o'clock.  The  concourse  was  immense,  and 
the  precautions  against  popular  violence  were  much  more 
extensive  than  any  that  had  been  taken  upon  a  former 
occasion.  A  second  victim  was  provided  in  the  person  of 
John  Leafe,  a  tallow-chandler's  apprentice,  of  nineteen, 
who  refused  his  assent  to  transubstantiation,  and  to  the 
Romish  doctrine  of  sacramental  absolution.  On  reaching 
the  pyre,   both  the  sufferers  fell  upon  their   faces,  and 


BRADFORD.  41 

remained  for  a  short  space  engaged  in  prayer.  They  were, 
however,  quickly  disturbed  by  the  sheriffs,  who  seem  to 
have  been  somewhat  alarmed  by  the  multitudes  which 
poured  down  upon  the  spot.  Being  fastened  to  the  stake, 
Bradford  said  with  a  loud  voice,  "  0  England,  England, 
repent  thee  of  thy  sins  :  beware  of  idolatry,  beware  of 
antichrists,  take  heed  that  they  do  not  deceive  thee." 
Hearing  these  words,  one  of  the  sheriffs  said,  that  if 
Bradford  were  not  quiet,  he  would  have  his  hands  tied. 
The  martyr  immediately  replied,  "  O  master  sheriff,  I  am 
quiet :  God  forgive  you  this."  He  then  declared  himself 
in  perfect  charity  with  all  the  world,  asked  forgiveness  of 
any  who  might  complain  of  him,  intreated  the  spectators 
to  aid  him  with  their  prayers,  while  his  soul  was  in  part- 
ing, and  addressed  a  few  words  of  encouragement  to  the 
youth  who  was  chained  at  his  side.  Having  thus  taken 
leave  of  his  fellow-men,  he  embraced  the  reeds  around 
him  ;  and  after  saying,  "  Straight  is  the  way,  and  narrow 
is  the  gate  that  leadeth  to  eternal  salvation,  and  few  thei*e 
be  that  find  it,"  his  voice  was  heard  no  more. 

Bradford  was  an  earnest-minded,  true-hearted  man,  and 
as  such  he  was  beloved  by  his  friends,  and  respected  by 
his  enemies.  He  had  faults  both  in  temper  and  in  doc- 
trine, but  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  circumstances 
under  which  he  was  placed,  and  we  must  remember  that 
he  lived  in  a  revolutionaiy  age,  when  almost  every  ancient 
principle  was  shaken.  It  was  impossible  for  him  not  to 
repudiate  the  Romish  corruptions  jwhich  existed  in  our 
church,  when  once  they  were  pointed  out  to  him,  as  they 
were  by  the  heads  of  the  church,  the  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, Dr.  Cranmer,  and  the  bishop  of  London,  Dr.  Ridley. 
The  evil  of  the  times  was,  that  there  was  as  yet  nothing 
substantial  on  which  to  fall  back.  Men  were  shaken  out 
of  their  old  position,  and  were  feeling  their  way  for  some 
solid  standing-place,  in  a  kind  of  twilight. 

Bradford's  writings  are  numerous;  they  are  not  of  much 
intrinsic  value,  though  they  serve  to  illustrate  the  history 
D-2 


4a  BHADWARBIN. 

of  the  age,  and  the  state  of  religious  opinion  on  the  reform- 
ing side.  In  Coverdale's  collection  there  are  seventy-two 
letters  by  Bradford. — Fox.  Stinfioes  Cranmer.  Parkers 
Memorials.     Soames.     Coverdale.     Fuller. 


BEAD  FORD,    SAMUEL. 

Samuel  Bradford  was  born  in  London  in  1652.     He 
received  his  education  first  at  St.  Paul's  School,   next  at 
the  Charter-house,  and  lastly  at  Bene't  College,  Cambridge, 
which  he  left  without  taking  a  degree,  having  some  scruples 
about  subscription,  which  he  eventually  surmounted  when 
archbishop  Sancroft  procured  him  a  mandate  for  that  of 
M.  A.  in  1680,  at  which  time  he  acted  as  private  tutor  in 
gentlemen's  families.     He  did  not  enter  into  orders  till 
1690,    when  he  was   chosen    minister  of   St.  Thomas's, 
Southwark,  and  soon  after  lecturer  of  St.  Mary-le-Bow,  to 
which  rectory  he  was  also  presented  by  archbishop  Tillot- 
son.     He  was   appointed  chaplain  to  William  the  third, 
and   afterwards  to  queen  Anne,  with  whom  he  visited 
Cambridge,   and  was  created  doctor  in  divinity.     In  1707 
the  queen  gave  him  a  prebend  of  Westminster,  and  in 
1710  he  w^as  offered  the  bishopric  of  St.  David's,  which 
he  declined.     In  1716  he  was  elected  master  of  Bene't 
College,  and  in  1718  was  consecrated  bishop  of  Carlisle, 
from  whence  he  was  translated  to  Rochester   with   the 
deanery  of  Westminster   in   1728.       He  died  in    1731. 
His  sermons  at  Boyle's  lecture  were  published  in  4to,  in 
1699  ;  besides  which  he  printed  some  single  discourses, 
and  assisted  in  editing  the  works  of  archbishop  Tillotson. 
— Masters  s  Hist,  of  Corpus  Christi  College.    Birch's  Life  of 
Tillotson. 


BRADWARDIN,  OR  BRADWARDINE. 

Bradwardin,  the  profound  doctor,  one  of  the  most  illus- 
trious of  English  schoolmen,   was   born  at  Hartfield,  in 


BRADWARDIN.  43 

Sussex,  in  the  middle  of  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  He  was 
educated  at  Merton  College,  Oxford,  and  was  proctor  of 
the  university  in  13  "2  5.  He  afterwards  became  chancellor 
of  the  university,  and  professor  of  divinity.  He  had  the 
privilege  of  being  at  one  time  chaplain  to  Richard  de 
Bury,  bishop  of  Durham,  whose  "  manner  was  at  dinner 
and  supper  time  to  have  some  good  book  read  unto  him, 
whereof  he  would  discourse  with  his  chaplains  a  great  part 
of  the  next  day,  if  business  did  not  interrupt  his  course." 
Bradwardin  was  distinguished  as  much  for  strictness  of 
life  as  for  his  learning,  and  hence  archbishop  Stratford 
recommended  him  for  the  direction  of  the  king's  con- 
science. In  capacity  of  the  king's  confessor  he  attended 
Edward  III.  during  his  wars  in  France.  Such  was  the 
integrity  with  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of  this  re- 
sponsible office,  that  he  brought  his  master  under  the 
control  of  religion,  compelling  him  to  moderate  his  anger 
when  provoked,  and  restrain  his  ambition  when  flushed 
with  victory.  He  never  feared  to  tell  the  king  the  most 
unpalatable  truths,  and  yet  he  did  so  with  such  affection 
and  gentleness,  that  he  only  conciliated  the  royal  esteem 
and  respect.  He  was  constantly  with  the  king  in  his 
campaigns,  and  never  solicited  any  preferment  in  church 
or  state.  While  he  counselled  his  sovereign,  he  was  labo- 
rious in  preaching  to  the  troops,  and  some  contemporary 
writers  have  supposed  that  Edward's  victories  were  in 
some  degree  attributable  to  the  virtues  of  his  chap- 
lain. On  the  eve  of  battle,  he  would  animate  their  cour- 
age ;  in  the  hour  of  triumph,  he  would  restrain  them 
from  excess. 

While  thus  employed  as  a  practical  man  in  the  court 
and  camp,  distinguished  by  his  unsoldier-hke  and  un- 
courtly  manners,  yet  beloved  by  soldiers  and  courtiers,  his 
name  was  honoured  in  the  universities  as  a  scholar  and 
a  mathematician.  Such  was  the  man  whom  the  chapter 
of  Canterbury  elected  to  be  primate  of  all  England  and 
metropolitan  on  the  death  of  Stratford.  The  election  did 
not  meet  with  the  royal  approbation,   as  the  king  asserted 


44  BRADY. 

he  could  very  ill  spare  so  worthy  a  man  to  be  from  him, 
and   "  never  could  perceive  that  he  himself  wished  to  be 
spared."     The  fact  probably  was  that  Bradwardin  was  as 
willing  to  decline  the  primacy,  as  the  king  was  unwilling 
to  part  with  his  confessor.     But  it  would  be  a  question  of 
conscience  with  Bradwardin  whether  he  ought  to  decline  a 
responsible  office  when  imposed  upon  him.     The  king  in 
consequence  had  recourse  to  one  of  those  expedients,  by  a 
recourse  to  which  so  many  of  our  sovereigns  brought  our 
beloved  church  into  subjection  to  the  see  of  P^ome,  though 
we  should  have  expected  greater  prudence  in  Edward  the 
third.     The  king  actually  wrote  to  the  pope  requesting 
him  to  take  no  notice  of  the  election  of  Bradwardin,  but 
to  bestow  the  archbishopric  upon  Dr.  Ufford,  son  of  the 
earl  of  Suffolk.     The  pope  was  too  ready  to  have  recourse 
to  the  illegal  act,  and  declared  Ufford  archbishop,  making 
him  at  the  same  time  an  unusual  grant   of  favour  and 
privilege.     But  the  plague  was  at  this   time  raging   in 
England,  and  before  his  consecration,  Ufford  fell  a  victim 
to  it.     Again  the  choice  of  the  chapter  fell  upon  Bradwar- 
din, and  the  king  feeling  that  he  had  no  longer  a  right  to 
interpose,  his  chaplain  was  consecrated  in  the  year  1349. 
But  within  forty  days  of  his  consecration,  he  too  died  of 
the  plague.     Thus  within  one  year  there  were  three  arch- 
bishops of  Canterbury.     His  works   are — De  causa  Dei, 
fol.,  edited  by  Sir  Henry  Savile,  in  1618,  from  a  MS.  in 
Merton  College    library.       Geometria    Speculativa,    cum 
Arithmetic^  Speculativa,   Paris,  1495,    1504,  folio.     The 
arithmetic   had   been   printed    separately   in    1502,    and 
other  editions  of  both  appeared  in  1512  and  1530.     De 
Proportionibus,   Paris,    1495  ;    Venice,    1505,    folio.     De 
Quadratura  Circuli,   Paris,  1495.     Bradwardin   also   left 
some  astronomical   tables,   which  appear  never   to  have 
been  printed. — Godwin.    Collier.    Savile.    Bradw.  de  causa 
Dei.     Wood. 

BRADY,    NICHOLAS. 

Nicholas  Brady  was  born  at  Bandon,  in  the  county 


BRADY.  45 

of  Cork,  in  1659.  From  Westminster  school  he  was 
elected  a  student  to  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  but  after 
continuing  there  four  years  he  went  to  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  where  he  took  his  degrees  in  arts,  and  after- 
wards was  complimented  with  that  of  doctor  in  divinity. 
Bishop  Wettenhal  of  Cork,  to  whom  he  was  chaplain, 
gave  him  a  prebend  in  his  cathedral,  and  after  the 
revolution  he  became  minister  of  St.  Catherine  Cree, 
and  lecturer  of  St.  Michael,  Wood-steeet,  London.  Sub- 
sequently he  obtained  the  rectory  of  Clapham  in  Surrey, 
and  the  living  of  Pdchmond.  He  was  also  chaplain  to 
king  William,  and  died  in  1726.  He  translated  the 
^neid  into  English  verse,  4  vols,  8vo ;  wrote  a  tragedy 
called  the  Innocent  Impostor ;  and  published  three 
volumes  of  sermons :  but  he  would  now  have  been  for- 
gotten had  it  not  been  for  his  share  in  the  new  version 
of  Psalms,  in  conjunction  with  Tate.  This  translation 
was  justly  censured  by  the  celebrated  bishop  Beveridge 
when  first  it  was  introduced  by  a  side  wind,  into  the 
church.  After  defending  the  old  version  and  criticising 
the  new  on  various  grounds,  bishop  Beveridge  remarks, 
"  But  that  which  is  chiefly  to  be  observed  in  the  title  is, 
that  this  whole  Book  of  Psalms,  collected  into  English 
metre  by  Thomas  Sternhold,  John  Hopkins,  and  others, 
was  '  conferred  with  the  Hebrew  :'  which  cannot  be 
affirmed  of  the  new  version.  And  although  the  style 
of  the  former  is  '  plain,  and  low,  and  heavy,'  while 
that  of  the  latter  is  '  brisk,  and  lively,  and  flourished 
here  and  there  with  wit  and  fancy;'  yet  this  objection 
was  never  made  by  the  common  people,  who  never 
complained  that  the  psalms  which  were  sung  in  the 
churches  were  too  plain,  too  low,  or  too  heavy  for  them ; 
but  rather  loved  and  admired  them  the  more  for  pos- 
sessing these  qualities,  and  were  more  edified  by  the 
use  of  them.  And  since  there  is  no  such  thing  as  '  wit 
and  fancy'  in  the  holy  Scriptures,  if  there  be  any  of 
it  in  a  translation,  it  must  needs  differ  from  the  origi- 
nal.    And  although  there  may  still  be  something  of  the 


46  BRAMHALL. 

general  sense  and  design  of  the  place  to  be  found  in  it, 
yet  it  being  wrapped  up  in  such  light  and  gaudy  expres- 
sions, it  will  be  very  difficult  to  find  it ;  and,  if  found,  it 
will  not  have   that  power  and  eflficacy  that  it  hath  in  its 
plain  native  colours.     For  that  which  tickles  the  fancy 
never  toucheth  the  heart,   but  flies  immediately  into  air, 
from  whence  it  came ;  which,  therefore,  ought  to  be  avoided 
as  much  as  it  is  possible  in  all  discourses  and  writings  of 
religion.     For  religion  is  too  severe  a  thing  to  be  played 
with ;  especially  the  foundation  of  it,  the  word  of  God  ;  in 
which  the  very  poetry  is  all  solid,  substantial,  and  divine. 
And  so  must  be  the  translation  of  it  into  other  languages;  at 
least  there  must  be  nothing  of  flashy  wit,  nothing  light  or 
airy  in  it.     If  there  be,  it  may,  perhaps,  serve  young  peo- 
ple for  their  diversion,  but  it  can  be  no  help  to  their  devo- 
tion, but  rather  an  hindrance ;   their  minds  being  apt  to 
be  so  much  taken  up  with   such  a  manner  of  expressing 
it,  that  they  neglect  the  matter  designed  to  be  expressed 
by  it.     Whereas,  when  the  Scripture,  or  any  part  of  it,  is 
so  translated,  that  there  is  nothing  else  to  exercise  the 
thoughts  upon,  but  only  the  thing  itself  that  is  there  re- 
vealed, if  a  man  that  reads  it  thinks  at  all  of  what  he 
reads,   he  must  think  of  that,   and  nothing  else.     And 
therefore,  the  old  translation  of  the  Psalms  is  so  far  from 
being  to  be  blamed  and  despised,  as  it  is  by  some,  for  the 
plainness   and   simplicity  of  its  style,  that  it  ought  to  be 
the   more  commended  and   valued  for  it :  as  it  is  by  all 
that  prefer  the  plain  word  of  God  before  the  inventions  of 
men,  how  well  soever  they  may  be  adorned  and  set  off." — 
Biog.  Brit.     Beveridges  works. 


BRAMHALL,    JOHN. 

John  Beamhall,  a  great  Anglican  divine,  was  born 
at  Pontefract,  in  Yorkshire,  about  the  year  1593.  He 
received  his  primary  education  in  the  school  of  his  native 
town,  and  in  1603  was  sent  to  Sidney   Sussex  College, 


BRAMHALL.  47 

Cambridge,  where  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of 
Mr.  Hulet.  After  taking  the  degrees  of  bachelor  in  161-2, 
and  master  of  arts  in  1616,  he  quitted  the  university;  and 
entering  into  orders,  had  a  living  given  him  in  the  city  of 
York.  About  the  same  time  he  manied  Mrs.  Halley,  a 
clergyman's  widow,  with  whom  he  received  a  good  fortune, 
and,  what  was  equally  if  not  more  acceptable,  a  valuable 
library,  left  by  her  fonner  husband.  About  the  same  time 
he  was  presented  by  Mr.  Wandesford,  afterwards  master 
of  the  rolls  in  Ireland,  to  the  living  of  Elvington,  in  York- 
shire. In  the  year  1623  he  had  two  public  disputations  at 
Northallerton  with  a  secular  priest  and  a  Jesuit.  The 
match  between  prince  Charles  and  the  Infanta  of  Spain, 
was  then  depending;  and  the  papists  expected  great 
advantages  and  countenance  to  their  religion  from  it. 
These  persons,  therefore,  by  way  of  preparing  the  way  for 
them,  sent  a  public  challenge  to  all  the  anglican  clergy  in 
the  county  of  York ;  and  when  none  ventured  to  accept  it, 
Bramhall,  though  then  unversed  in  the  school  of  contro- 
versy, undertook  the  combat.  His  success  in  this  dihcus- 
sion  gained  him  so  much  reputation,  and  so  recommended 
him  in  particular  to  Matthews,  archbishop  of  York,  who, 
though  he  mildly  censured  him  for  engaging  in  such  an 
office  without  first  obtaining  his  consent,  made  him  his 
chaplain,  and  took  him  into  his  confidence.  He  was 
afterwards  made  a  prebendary  of  York,  and  after  that 
of  Ripon ;  at  which  last  place  he  resided  after  the  arch- 
bishop's death,  which  happened  in  1628,  and  managed 
most  of  the  affairs  of  that  church  in  the  quality  of  sub- 
dean.  He  had  great  iiilluence  in  the  town  of  Ripon,  and 
was  also  appointed  one  of  his  majesty's  high  commissioners. 
Here  he  shewed  his  love  for  his  flock,  by  staying  among 
them  to  minister  to  their  wants  in  the  time  of  a  most 
contagious  and  destructive  pestilence,  visiting  them  in 
their  houses,  baptizing  their  children,  and  giving  them 
the  Eucharist.     He  was  a  constant  preacher. 

In  the  year  1630  he  took   a  doctor  of  divinity's  degree 
at  Cambridge ;  and  soon  after  was  invited  to  Ireland  by 


48  BEAMHALL. 

the  lord  viscount  Wentworth,  deputy  of  that  kingdom, 
and  Sir  Christopher  Wandesford,  master  of  the  rolls.  He 
went  over  in  the  year  1633,  having  first  resigned  all  his 
church  preferments  in  England  ;  and  a  little  while  after, 
obtained  the  archdeaconry  of  Meath,  the  best  in  that  king- 
dom. The  first  public  service  he  was  employed  in  was  a 
royal  visitation  ;  in  which,  it  seems,  he  acted  as  one  of  thfi 
king's  commissioners.  The  church  of  Ireland  was  at  this 
time  entirely  distinct  from  the  church  of  England,  although 
it  had  been  reformed  on  similar  principles.  It  was  not 
governed  by  the  same  canons,  neither  did  it  receive  the 
thirty-nine  articles.  Whether  wisely  or  not,  Bramhall 
laboured  to  unite  the  two  churches.  Of  the  miserable 
state  of  things  in  the  church  of  Ireland  we  have  an  account 
in  the  following  letter  from  Bramhall  to  Laud,  at  that 
time  bishop  of  London  : 
♦•  Right  Reverend  Father, 

"My  most  honoured  lord,  presuming  partly  upon 
your  license,  but  especially  directed  by  my  lord  deputy's 
commands,  I  am  to  give  your  fatherhood  a  brief  account 
of  the  present  state  of  the  poor  Church  of  Ireland,  such 
as  our  short  intelligence  here,  and  your  lordship's  weightier 
employments  there,  will  permit. 

"  First,  for  the  fabrics,  it  is  hard  to  say,  whether  the 
churches  be  more  ruinous  and  sordid,  or  the  people  irre- 
verent, even  in  Dublin,  the  metropolis  of  this  kingdom 
and  seat  of  justice.  To  begin  the  inquisition,  where  the 
reformation  will  begin,  we  find  our  parochial  church  con- 
verted to  the  lord  deputy's  stable,  a  second  to  a  nobleman's 
dwelling-house,  the  choir  of  a  third  to  a  tennis-court,  and 
the  vicar  acts  the  keeper. 

"In  Christ's  church,  the  principal  church  in  Ireland, 
whither  the  lord  deputy  and  council  repair  every  Sunday, 
the  vaults,  from  one  end  of  the  minster  to  the  other,  are 
made  into  tipling- rooms  for  beer,  wine,  and  tobacco,  de- 
mised all  to  popish  recusants,  and  by  them  and  others  so 
much  frequented  in  time  of  divine  service,  that  though 
there  is  no  danger  of  blowing  up  the  assembly  above  their 


BRAMHALL.  49 

heads,  yet  there  is  of  poisoning  them  with  the  fumes. 
The  table  used  for  the  administration  of  the  blessed  Sacra- 
ment in  the  midst  of  the  choir,  is  made  an  ordinary  seat 
for  maids  and  apprentices. 

"I  cannot  omit  the  glorious  tomb  in  the  other  cathedral 
church  of  St.  Patrick,  in  the  proper  place  of  the  altar,  just 
oj^posite  to  his  majesty's  seat,  having  his  father's  name 
superscribed  upon  it,  as  if  it  were  on  purpose  to  gain  the 
worship  and  reverence,  which  the  chapter  and  whole 
church  are  bound  by  special  statute  to  give  towards  the 
east.  And  either  the  soil  itself,  or  a  license  to  build  and 
huYj,  and  make  a  vault  in  the  place  of  the  altar,  under 
seal,  which  is  a  tantamount  passed  to  the  earl  and  his 
heirs.  '  Credimus  esse.Deos  ?'  This  being  the  case  in 
Dublin,  your  lordship  will  judge  what  we  may  expect  in 
the  country. 

"  Next,  for  the  clergy :  I  find  few  footsteps  yet  of  foreign 
differences,  so  I  hope  it  will  be  an  easier  task  not  to  admit 
them  than  to  have  them  ejected.  But  I  doubt  much 
whether  the  clergy  be  very  orthodox  :  and  could  wish  both 
the  articles  and  canons  of  the  Church  of  England  vere 
established  here  by  Act  of  Parliament  or  state ;  that,  as  we 
live  all  under  one  king,  so  we  might  both  in  doctrine  and 
discipline  observe  an  uniformity. 

"  The  inferior  sort  of  ministers  are  below  all  degrees  of 
contempt,  in  respect  of  their  poverty  and  ignorance.  The 
boundless  heaping  together  of  benefices  by  commendams 
and  dispensations  in  the  superiors  is  but  too  apparent : 
yea,  even  often  by  plain  usurpation,  and  indirect  compo- 
sitions made  between  the  patrons,  as  well  ecclesiastic  as 
lay,  and  the  incumbents ;  by  which  the  least  part,  many 
times  not  above  forty  shillings,  rarely  ten  pounds  in  the 
year,  is  reserved  for  him  that  should  serve  at  the  altar  : 
insomuch  that  it  is  affirmed,  that  by  all  or  some  of  these 
means  one  bishop  in  the  remoter  parts  of  the  kingdom 
doth  hold  three-and- twenty  benefices  with  cure.  Generally 
their  residence  is  as  little  as  their  livings.     Seldom  any 

VOL.  III.  E 


30  BRAMHALL. 

suitor  petitions  for  less  than  three  vicarages  at  a  timer. 
And  it  is  a  main  prejudice  to  his  majesty's  service,  and 
an  hindrance  to  the  right  establishment  of  his  church, 
that  the  clergy  have  in  a  manner  no  dependence  upon 
the  lord  deputy,  nor  he  any  means  left  to  prefer  those 
that  are  deserving  amongst  them.  For  besides  all  those 
advowsons,  which  w^ere  given  by  that  good  patron  of  the 
church,  king  James,  of  happy  memory,  to  bishops  and 
the  college  here,  many  also  were  conferred  upon  the  plan- 
tations, (never  was  so  good  a  gift  so  infinitely  abused :) 
and  I  know  not  how,  or  by  what  order,  even  in  these  bles- 
sed days  of  his  sacred  majesty,  all  the  rest  of  any  note 
have  been  given  or  passed  away  in  the  time  of  the  late 
lord  deputy.     (Viscount  Falkland.) 

"  Lastly,  for  the  revenues  :  how  small  care  hath  been 
taken  for  the  service  of  his  majesty,  or  the  good  of  the 
church,  is  hereby  apparent,  that  no  officer,  or  other  person, 
can  inform  my  lord,  what  deanery  or  benefices  are  in  his 
majesty's  gift;  and  about  three  hundred  livings  are  omitted 
out  of  the  book  of  tax  for  first-fruits  and  twentieth  parts  ; 
sundry  of  them  of  good  value,  two  or  three  bishoprics, 
and  the  whole  diocese  of  Killfannore.  The  alienations 
of  church  possessions,  by  long  leases  and  deeds,  are  infi- 
nite :  yea,  even  since  the  Act  of  State  to  restrain  them,  it 
is  believed  that  divers  are  bold,  still  to  practise  in  hopes 
of  secrecy  and  impunity,  and  will  adventure  until  their 
hands  be  tied  by  act  of  parliament,  or  some  of  the  delin- 
quents censured  in  the  Star  Chamber.  The  earl  of  Cork 
holds  the  whole  bishopric  of  Lismore,  at  the  rent  of  forty 
shillings,  or  five  marks,  by  the  year :  many  benefices,  that 
ought  to  be  presentative,  are  by  negligence  enjoyed  as 
though  they  were  appropriate. 

•'  For  the  remedying  of  these  evils,  next  to  God  and 
his  sacred  majesty,  I  know  my  lord  depends  on  your 
fatherhood's  wisdom  and  zeal  for  the  church.  My  duty 
binds  me  to  pray  for  a  blessing  upon  both  your  good  en- 
deavours.    For  the   present,   my  lord  hath  pulled  down 


BRAMHALL.  51 

tiie  deputy's  seat  in  his  own  chapel,  and  restored  the  altar 
to  its  ancient  place,  which  was  thrust  out  of  doors.  The 
3ike  is  done  in  Christ's  Church.  The  purgation  and 
restitution  of  the  stable  to  the  right  owners  and  uses  will 
follow  next ;  and  strict  mandates  to  my  lords  the  bishops, 
to  see  the  churches  repaired,  adorned,  and  preserved  from 
profanation,  throughout  the  kingdom. 

"  For  the  clergy  and  their  revenues,  my  lord  is  careful 
that  no  petitions  be  admitted  ^vithout  good  certificate  and 
diligent  inquiiy,  (thought  a  strange  course  here  :)  and  to 
enable  himself  and  the  succeeding  deputies,  to  encourage 
such  as  shall  deserve  well  in  the  church,  his  lordship 
intends,  as  well  in  the  commission  for  defective  titles,  as 
for  the  plantations,  to  reserve  the  right  of  advowson  to  his 
majesty,  and  as  well  by  diligent  search  in  the  records,  as 
by  a  selected  commission  of  many  branches,  to  regain  such 
advowsons  as  have  been  usui'ped  through  the  negligence  of 
officers,  change  of  deputies,  or  power  of  great  men  ;  and  by 
the  same  to  inform  himself  of  the  true  state  of  the  church 
and  clergy,  to  provide  for  the  cui^s  and  residence,  to  per- 
fect his  majesty's  tax,  to  prevent  and  remedy  alienations, 
to  restore  illegal  impropriations,  to  dispose,  by  way  of 
lapse,  of  all  those  supernumerary  benefices  which  are  held 
unjustly,  and  not  without  infinite  scandal,  under  the  pre- 
tence of  commendams  and  dispensations,  and  to  settle,  as 
much  as  in  present  is  possible,  the  whole  state  of  the 
church.  This  testimony  I  must  give  of  his  care,  that  it  is 
not  possible  for  the  intentions  of  a  mortal  man  to  be  more 
serious  and  sincere  than  his  in  those  things,  that  concern 
the  good  of  the  poor  church. 

"It  is  some  comfort  to  see  the  Romish  ecclesiastics 
cannot  laugh  at  us,  who  come  behind  none  in  point  of 
disunion  and  scandal. 

"  I  know  my  tediousness  w^ill  be  offensive,  unless  your 
lordship's  license,  and  my  Lord  Deputy's  command,  pro- 
cure my  pardon.  I  will  not  add  a  w^ord  more,  but  the 
profession  of  my  humble  thanks  and  bounden  service ; 


52  BRAMHALL. 

and  so  being  ready  to  receive  your  lordship's  commands, 
I  desire  to  remain,  as  your  noble  favours  have  for  ever 
bound  me, 

Your  lordship's 

Daily  and  devoted  servant, 

John  Bramhall." 
Dublin  Castle,  August  the  lOth,  1663. 

Bramhall  immediately  applied  himself  to  the  recovery 
of  the  alienated  property  of  the  church,  and  eventually 
recovered  much  of  the  land  belonging  to  it,  which  had 
been  illegally  alienated  by  his  predecessors,  and  procured 
the  passing  of  some  acts  for  the  better  support  of  the 
church,  and  the  protection  of  its  property:  under  the 
authority  of  which  he  abolished  fee-farms,  and  obtained 
compositions  for  the  rent,  instead  of  small  reserved  rents ; 
and  in  the  course  of  four  years,  he  recovered  to  the  church 
about  £40,000  a  year,  which  had  been  wasted  and  impro- 
priated. While  labouring,  under  the  lord  deputy,  for  the 
externals  of  the  church,  he  sought  to  resuscitate  a  spirit 
of  piety  within,  not  only  by  his  preaching,  but  by  the  holy 
example  which  he  set. 

In  a  letter  from  archbishop  Laud  to  the  lord  deputy, 
Strafford,  dated  Lambeth,  Oct.  14,  1663,  the  following 
remarks  occur  about  the  manner  proposed  for  supplying 
vacancies  in  the  Irish  Episcopate. 

"  I  heartily  thank  your  lordship  for  the  inclosed  paper 
that  you  sent  me,  though  you  might  have  spared  the 
pains ;  for  I  was  never  jealous  that  you  would  do  anything 
against  the  good  of  the  Church,  or  such  intentions  as  I 
have  towards  it.  For  I  am  most  confident  (and  I  protest 
my  heart  and  pen  go  together)  that  since  the  Reformation 
there  was  never  any  deputy  in  that  kingdom  intended  the 
good  of  the  church  so  much  as  your  lordship  doth.  And 
I  hope  you  are  as  resolute  in  your  thoughts  for  me,  that, 
since  I  was  the  first  man  that  humbly  besought  his  ma- 
jesty to  send  of  his  chaplains  to  be  bishops  in  that  king- 


BRAMHALL.  53 

dom,  I  shall  not  now  recede  from  it,  unless  it  he  at  some 
times,  and  on  some  particular  occasions,  when  I  may 
receive  information  from  your  lordship  of  some  very  able 
and  discerning  men  on  that  side. 

"  Concerning  the  age  of  such  as  should  be  made  bishops 
in  those  parts,  I  see  your  lordship  and  I  shall  not  differ 
much  ;  for  I  did  never  intend,  may  I  have  free  use  of  my 
own  judgment,  to  send  you  any  decrepid  man  amongst 
you.  For  I  very  well  know,  that  in  places  where  less 
action  is  necessary  than  in  Ireland,  a  man  may  be  as  well 
too  old  as  too  young  for  a  bishopric.  Your  lordship  would 
not  have  any  there  under  thirty-five,  nor  above  forty-five. 
And  truly,  my  lord,  I  am  in  the  middle  way,  and  that 
useth  to  be  best :  for  I  would  have  no  man  a  bishop  any- 
where under  forty.  And  if  your  lordship  understood 
clergymen  as  well  as  I  do,  I  know  you  would  in  this  be 
wholly  of  my  judgment.  I  never  in  all  my  life  knew  any 
more  than  one  made  a  bishop  before  forty ;  and  he  proved  so 
well,  that  I  shall  never  desire  to  see  more,  nor  will,  if  I 
can  hinder  it ;  but  this  way  that  I  have  expressed,  have 
with  you  for  all  occasions,  both  for  church  and  state. 
And,  if  at  any  time  I  send  you  any  of  my  acquaint- 
ance, and  break  rule  of  age,  life,  or  doctrine,  lay  it  upon 
me  home." 

It  is  not  a  little  remarkable,  that  the  first  vacancy, 
which  occurred  amongst  the  Irish  bishops,  caused  a  devia- 
tion from  the  rule  thus  formally  announced.  But  it  so 
happened,  that  precisely  seven  months  after  the  date  of 
the  preceding,  on  the  14th  of  May,  1634,  the  archbishop 
wrote  thus  to  the  lord  deputy  : — "  Now,  my  lord,  to  your 
great  business.  Since  the  bishop  of  Derry  is  dead,  I  have 
(though  against  the  rule  which  I  have  lodged  with  his 
majesty)  moved  earnestly  for  Dr.  Bramhall  to  succeed 
him ;  and  given  him  the  reasons,  why,  for  his  own  service, 
and  the  good  of  the  church  in  that  kingdom,  he  should 
dispense  in  this  particular  for  the  doctor's  being  a  little 
too  young.  His  majesty,  after  some  arguing  on  the  busi- 
E-2 


54  BRAMHALL. 

ness,  and  with  great  testimony  of  your  lordship's  good 
service  to  himself  and  the  church,  granted  him  the  bishop- 
ric, as  you  will  see  by  the  letters  which  accompany  these. 
This  I  have  readily  done  to  serve  you,  with  some  depar- 
ture from  my  own  judgment  in  matter  of  age,  hoping  the 
doctor  will  supply  it  with  temper  ;  and  then  he  hath  the 
more  strength  for  his  business,  which  he  says  he  will  not, 
and  I  say  he  must  not,  leave,  till  that  church  be  better 
settled  ;  which  I  dare  say  must  be  now,  when  a  king,  a 
lord  deputy,  and  a  poor  archbishop,  set  jointly  to  it,  or 
never."  Bramhall,  at  the  time  in  question,  must  have 
been  hard  upon,  if  not  rather  more  than,  forty  years  of 
age ;  beyond  the  limit,  therefore,  which  the  archbishop 
haddefined  for  the  episcopal  qualification. 

The  case  gave  occasion  for  another  important  general 
observation  from  archbishop  Laud :  "  What  Dr.  Bramhall 
holds  in  England,  he  must  leave  :  that  bishopric,  being 
good,  needs  no  commendam  ;  if  it  did,  it  must  be  helped 
there.  For  I  foresee  marvellous  great  inconvenience,  and 
very  little  less  than  mischief,  if  way  be  given  to  bishops 
there  to  hold  commendams  here." 

Bramhall  was  consecrated  in  the  chapel  of  the  castle  of 
Dublin  on  the  26th  of  May,  in  the  year  1634.  In  the 
July  of  that  year  the  parliament  sat,  and  the  bishop  of 
Derry  obtained  several  acts  of  parliament  by  which  his 
labours  with  respect  to  the  temporalities  of  the  church 
were  confined.  In  the  convocation  which  met  at  the  same 
time,  he  laboured  to  have  the  correspondence  betw^een  the 
church  of  Ireland  and  the  church  of  England  more  com- 
plete, and  discoursed,  with  great  moderation  and  sobriety, 
of  the  convenience  of  having  the  articles  of  peace  and 
communion  in  every  national  church,  worded  in  that 
latitude,  that  dissenting  persons  in  those  things,  that 
concerned  not  the  Christian  faith,  might  subscribe,  and 
the  church  not  lose  the  benefit  of  their  labours  for  an 
opinion,  which,  it  may  be,  they  could  not  help  :  that  it 
were  to  be  washed  that  such  articles  might  be  contrived 


BRAMHALL.  55 

for  the  whole  Christian  world,  but  especially  that  the 
protestant  churches  under  his  majesty's  dominion  might 
'  all  speak  the  same  language  ;'  and  particularly  that  those 
of  England  and  Ireland,  being  reformed  by  the  same 
principle  and  rule  of  Scripture,  expounded  by  universal 
tradition,  councils,  fathers,  and  other  ways  of  conveyance, 
might  confess  their  faith  in  the  same  form.  For,  if  they 
were  of  the  same  opinion,  why  did  they  not  express  them- 
selves in  the  same  words  ? 

But  he  was  answered,  "  that,  because  their  sense  was 
the  same,  it  was  not  material  if  the  expressions  differed ; 
and  therefore  it  was  fitter  to  confirm  and  strengthen  the 
articles  of  this  church,  passed  in  convocation,  and  con- 
firmed by  king  James,  in  1615,  by  the  authority  of  this 
present  synod." 

To  this  the  bishop  of  Derry  replied,  "  That  though  the 
sense  might  be  the  same,  yet  our  adversaries  clamoured 
much  that  they  were  dissonant  confessions;  and  it  was 
reasonable  to  take  away  the  offence,  when  it  might  be  done 
easily:  but  for  the  confirmation  of  the  articles  of  1615,  he 
knew  not  what  they  meant  by  it;  and  wished  the  pro- 
pounder  to  consider,  whether  such  an  act  would  not, 
instead  of  ratifying  what  was  desired,  rather  tend  to  the 
diminution  of  that  authority,  by  which  they  were  enacted, 
and  seem  to  question  the  value  of  that  synod,  and  conse- 
quently of  this :  for  that  this  had  no  more  power  than 
that,  and  therefore  could  add  no  moments  to  it,  but  by  so 
doing  might  help  to  enervate  both." 

By  thus  meeting  the  objection,  he  avoided  the  blow 
he  most  feared ;  and  therefore  again  earnestly  pressed 
the  receiving  of  the  English  articles,  which  were  at 
last  admitted.  Whereupon  immediately  "  drawing  up 
a  canon,"  says  his  biographer,  rather  perhaps  we  may 
suppose,  bringing  forward  the  canon  which  had  been  pre- 
viously drawn  up  by  the  lord  deputy,  and  with  a  copy  of 
which  he  would  naturally  be  intrusted  for  the  occasion, 
"  and  proposing  it,  it  passed  accordingly."  The  canon  is 
the  first  of  those  that  were  made  in  that  convocation : 


56  BRAMHALL. 

uamely,  "  of  the  agreement  of  the  church  of  England 
and  Ireland  in  the  profession  of  the  same  christian  reli- 
gion ;"  and  is  expressed  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"For  the  manifestation  of  our  agreement  with  the 
church  of  England  in  the  confession  of  the  same  Christian 
faith,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  sacraments ;  we  do  receive 
and  approve  the  book  of  articles  of  religion,  agreed  upon 
by  the  archbishops,  and  bishops,  and  the  whole  clergy,  in 
the  convocation  holden  at  London  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1562,  for  the  avoiding  of  diversities  of  opinions,  and  for 
the  establishing  of  consent  touching  true  religion.  And 
therefore,  if  any  hereafter  shall  affirm,  that  any  of  those 
articles  are  in  any  part  superstitious  or  erroneous,  or  such 
as  he  may  not  with  a  good  conscience  subscribe  unto,  let 
him  be  excommunicated,  and  not  absolved  before  he  make 
a  public  recantation  of  his  error." 

Thus  the  English  articles  were  received  and  approved 
by  the  Irish  convocation  with  the  single  dissentient  voice 
of  a  nonconformist  minister  from  the  diocese  of  Down. 

The  agreement  with  the  church  of  England  in  doctrine 
having  been  settled  in  the  convocation,  it  was  further 
moved  by  the  bishop  of  Derry,  that,  as  they  had  received 
the  articles,  so  they  would  likewise  the  canons,  of  the 
church  of  England,  in  order  that  the  two  churches  might 
have  the  same  rule  of  government  as  well  as  of  belief.  An 
objection  to  this  proposal  was  made  with  great  earnestness 
by  the  lord  primate,  that  it  would  appear  to  be  the  betray- 
ing of  the  privileges  of  a  national  church  :  that  it  might 
lead  to  placing  the  church  of  England  in  a  state  of  abso- 
lute superintendence  and  dominion  over  that  of  Ireland  : 
that  it  was  convenient  for  some  discrepancy  to  appear,  if 
it  were  but  to  declare  the  free  agency  of  the  church  of 
Ireland,  and  to  express  her  sense  of  rites  and  ceremonies, 
that  there  is  no  necessity  of  the  same  in  all  churches, 
which  are  independent  of  each  other ,;  and  that  different 
canons  and  modes  might  co-exist  with  the  same  faith, 
charity,  and  communion. 

By  these  and  similar  arguments  the  lord  primate  pre- 


BRAMHALL.  57 

vailed  with  the  convocation,  in  which  the  prepossessions  of 
many  of  its  members  inclined  them  to  a  favourable  recep- 
tion of  his  reasonings.  The  fact,  indeed,  seems  to  have 
been  in  some  degree  agreeable  to  the  statement  of 
Carle,  in  his  Life  of  the  Duke  of  Ormonde,  that  the  convo- 
cation contained  many  members  inclined  in  their  hearts 
to  the  puritanical  peculiarities,  as  distinguished  from  the 
more  sober  and  chastised  ordinances  of  the  church  of 
England,  and  of  themselves  prepared  to  object  to  some  of 
the  English  canons,  now  offered  to  their  judgment  and 
approbation  :  particularly  to  such  as  concerned  the  solem- 
nity and  uniformity  of  divine  worship,  the  administration 
of  the  sacraments,  and  the  ornaments  used  therein ;  the 
qualifications  for  holy  orders,  for  benefices,  and  for  plu- 
ralities :  the  oath  against  simony,  the  times  of  ordination, 
and  the  obligations  to  residency  and  subscription. 

It  was  accordingly  concluded,  that  such  canons  as  were 
fit  to  be  transplanted  should  be  adopted  in  the  church  of 
Ireland,  and  others  be  added  to  them,  having  been  con- 
structed afresh  for  the  purpose,  so  as  to  form  a  complete 
rule  peculiarly  suited  to  the  circumstances  of  the  country. 

The  execution  of  this  task  was  committed  to  the  bishop 
of  Derry ;  and  the  result  was  the  book  of  constitutions 
and  canons  for  the  regulation  of  the  church  of  Ireland, 
which,  having  been  passed  in  convocation,  received  its 
final  confirmation  and  authority  from  his  majesty's  assent, 
according  to  the  form  of  the  statute,  or  act  of  parliament, 
made  in  that  behalf. 

These  canons  for  the  most  part  agreed  in  substance 
and  intention  with  the  English  canons,  from  w^hich,  how^- 
ever,  they  differed  much  in  arrangement  and  coDstruction, 
without  any  obvious  improvement,  rather  perhaps  the  con- 
trary. In  number  also  they  were  fewer,  amounting  to  one 
hundred  only,  w^hereas  the  English  code  comprised  one 
hundred  and  forty-one.  This  diminution  is  attributable 
in  a  considerable  degree  to  a  combination,  occasionally,  of 
more  than  one  of  the  English  into  one  only  of  the  Irish 
canons. 


68  BRAMHALL. 

The  Irish  canons  do  not  command  men  to  bow  at  the 
name  of  Jesus,  nor  do  they  insist  upon  the  use  of  the 
surplice,  or  appoint  the  bidding  prayer. 

In  these  his  labours  of  love,  bishop  Bramhall  met 
with  much  opposition  and  obloquy,  and  was,  according 
to  the  fashion  of  the  times,  charged  with  popery  and 
Arminianism  by  those  who  were  unfriendly  to  his  views. 
He  visited  his  native  country  in  1637,  and  met  with  much 
respect  from  Charles  I.,  archbishop  Laud,  and  men  of  the 
highest  rank ;  but  was  much  surprised,  on  his  arrival  in 
London,  to  find  an  information  exhibited  against  him 
in  the  Star  Chamber,  of  which  he  soon  cleared  himself. 
The  frivolous  nature  of  the  charge  shewed  the  animus  of 
the  puritans,  who  were  determined  to  ruin,  if  possible, 
every  dutiful  member  of  the  church.  On  his  return  to 
Ireland,  he  determined  to  adopt  that  country  for  his  own, 
and  selling  his  estate  in  England  for  six  thousand  pounds, 
he  purchased  one  in  the  county  of  Tyrone,  and  began  a 
plantation  at  Omagh.  But  his  attention  was  soon  diverted 
from  his  private  affairs  by  the  distraction  of  the  times. 
The  withdrawal  of  the  virtuous  and  noble  earl  of  Strafford 
from  the  viceroyalty  of  Ireland,  encouraged  the  presby- 
terians  of  the  north  to  indulge  without  reserve  their  bitter 
enmity  against  the  church ;  and  upon  bishop  Bramhall 
the  most  vehement  assault  was  made,  an  impeachment  in 
1641  being  lodged  against  him,  together  with  the  lord 
chancellor  Bolton  and  lord  chief  justice  Lowther.  The 
attack  was  a  powerful  one,  the  popish  and  puritan  parties 
having  combined  their  forces.  The  impeachment  was 
made  by  Sir  Bryan  O'Neal,  the  leader  of  the  popish  party, 
supported  by  protestant  non-conformists  The  bishop  s 
friends  advised  him  to  continue  in  Derry,  where  he  was 
superintending  his  charge,  and  not  expose  himself  to 
trial  in  Dublin.  But  conscious  of  his  integrity  and 
innocence,  he  hastened  to  the  metropolis  ;  and  appeared 
the  next  day  in  the  parliament  house,  greatly  to  the 
astonishment  of  his  enemies,  by  whom  he  was  made  a 
close  prisoner. 


BRAMHALL.  59 

The  course  of  this  persecution  shall  be  related  in  the 
forcible  and  eloquent  language  of  bishop  Taylor,  who  thus 
describes  the  discomfiture  of  malignity  before  uprightness 
and  truth. 

"  When  the  numerous  armies  of  vexed  people  heaped 
up  catalogues  of  accusations  ;  when  the  parliament  of 
Ireland  imitated  the  violent  proceedings  of  the  disordered 
English ;  w^hen  his  glorious  patron  was  taken  from  his 
head,  and  he  was  disrobed  of  his  great  defences ;  when 
petitions  were  invited,  and  accusations  furnished,  and 
calumny  was  rewarded  and  managed  with  art  and  power ; 
when  there  were  above  two  hundred  petitions  put  in 
against  him,  and  himself  denied  leave  to  answer  by  word 
of  mouth ;  when  he  was  long  imprisoned  and  treated  so 
that  a  guilty  man  would  have  been  broken  into  affright- 
ment,  and  pitiful  and  low  considerations :  yet  then  he 
himself,  standing  almost  alone,  like  Callimachus  at  Mara- 
thon, invested  with  enemies  and  covered  with  arrows, 
defended  himself  beyond  all  the  powers  of  guiltiness,  even 
with  the  defences  of  truth  and  the  bravery  of  innocence, 
and  answered  the  petitions  in  writing,  sometimes  twenty 
in  a  day,  with  so  much  clearness,  evidence  of  truth,  reality 
of  fact,  and  testimony  of  law,  that  his  very  enemies  were 
ashamed  and  convinced.  They  were  therefore  forced  to 
leave  their  muster-rolls,  and  decline  the  particulars,  and 
fall  to  their  ev  jixsya,  to  accuse  him  for  going  about  to  sub- 
vert the  fundamental  laws  ;  the  way  by  which  great  Straf- 
ford and  Canterbuiy  fell ;  which  was  a  device,  when  all 
reasons  failed,  to  oppress  the  enemy  by  the  bold  aflfirma- 
tion  of  a  conclusion  they  could  not  prove." 

A  letter  written  at  this  time,  April  the  26th,  1641,  by 
the  bishop  to  the  lord  primate,  contains  much  of  the 
charge  against  him,  and  of  the  defence  which  he  pleaded : 
and  an  extract  from  it  may  be  here  fitly  inserted  from 
Bishop  Vesey's  Life. 

"  It  would  have  been  a  great  comfort  and  contentment 
to  me,  to  have  received  a  few  lines  of  counsel  or  comfort 
in  this  my  great  affliction,   which  has  befallen  me  for  my 


60  BRAMHALL. 

zeal  to  the  service  of  his  majesty,  and  the  good  of  this 
church ;  in  being  a  poor  instrument  to  restore  the  usurped 
advowsons  and  appropriations  to  the  crown,  and  to  increase 
the  revenue  of  the  church,  in  a  fair  just  way,  always  with 
the  consent  of  the  parties,  which  did  ever  use  to  take 
away  errors. 

"  But  now  it  is  said  to  be  obtained  by  threatening  and 
force.  What  force  did  I  ever  use  to  any?  What  one 
man  ever  suffered  for  not  consenting  ?  My  force  was 
only  force  of  reason  and  law.  The  scale  must  needs  yield 
when  weight  is  put  into  it.  And  your  grace  knows  to 
what  pass  many  bishoprics  were  brought,  some  to  £100 
per  annum ;  some  £50,  as  Waterford,  Kilfenoragh,  and 
some  others ;  some  to  five  marks,  as  Cloyne  and  Kil- 
macduagh :  how  in  some  dioceses,  as  in  Ferns  and 
Leighlin,  there  was  scarce  a  living  left  that  was  not 
farmed  out  to  the  patron,  or  to  some  for  his  use,  at 
£2,  £3,  £4,  or  £5,  per  annum,  for  a  long  time,  three 
lives,  or  a  hundred  years  :  how  the  chantries  of  Ardee, 
Dondalk,  &c.,  were  employed  to  maintain  priests  and 
friars,  which  are  now  the  chief  maintenance  of  the 
incumbents. 

"  In  all  this,  my  part  was  only  labour  and  expense  : 
but  I  find  that  losses  make  a  deeper  impression  than 
benefits.  I  cannot  stop  men's  mouths ;  but  I  challenge 
all  the  world  for  one  farthing  I  ever  got,  either  by  refer- 
ences or  church  preferments.  I  fly  to  your  grace  as  an 
anchor  at  this  time,  when  my  friends  cannot  help  me. 
God  knows  how  I  have  exulted  at  night,  that  day  I  had 
gained  any  considerable  revenue  to  the  church,  little 
dreaming  that  in  future  times  that  act  should  be  ques- 
tioned as  treasonable.  I  never  took  the  oath  of  judge  or 
counsellor ;  yet  do  I  not  know,  wherein  I  ever  in  all  these 
passages  deviated  from  the  mle  of  justice.  My  trust  is  in 
God,  that,  as  my  intentions  were  sincere,  so  He  will  deli- 
ver me 

Since  I  was  a  bishop,  1  never  displaced  any  man  in  niy 
diocese,  but  Mr.  Noble  for  his  professed  popery,  Mr.  Hugh 


BRAMHiVLL.  61 

for  confessed  simony,  and  Mr.  Dimkine,  aD  illiterate 
curate,  for  refusing  to  pray  for  his  majesty. 

"  Almighty  God  bless  your  grace,  even  as  the  church 
stands  in  need  of  you  at  this  time :  which  is  the  hearty 
and  faithful  prayer 

Of  your  grace's  obedient  servant  and  suffragan, 
Jo.  Deeensis. 
Ajyril  '2Wi,  1461." 

The  primate  in  his  answer,  gave  the  bishop,  among 
other  things,  an  assurance  of  his  own  sympathy  and  exer- 
tions in  his  behalf;  of  the  good  will  of  the  king;  and  of 
the  interest  taken  in  his  welfare  by  the  excellent  noble- 
man, who  had  recently  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  the  malevolence 
of  their  enemies. 

"  I  assure  you  my  care  never  slackened  in  soliciting 
your  cause  at  court,  with  as  great  vigilancy  as  if  it  did 
touch  my  own  proper  person.  I  never  intermitted  an 
occasion  of  mediating  with  his  majesty  in  your  behalf, 
who  still  pitied  your  case,  acknowledged  the  faithfulness 
of  your  services  both  to  the  Church  and  to  him,  avowed 
that  you  were  no  more  guilty  of  treason  than  himself,  and 
assured  me  that  he  would  do  for  you   all  that  lay  in  his 

power 

My  Lord  Strafford,  the  night  before  his  suffering,  (which 
was  most  Christian  and  magnanimous,  adstiqwrem  usque,) 
sent  me  to  the  king,  giving  me  in  charge,  among  other 
particulars,  to  put  him  in  mind  of  you,  and  of  the  ^ther 
two  lords  that  are  under  the  same  pressure." 

In  the  end,  the  king,  being  anxious  that  the  bishop's 
death  should  not  be  added  to  that  of  the  noble  earl,  who 
had  made  his  safety  one  of  the  objects  of  his  dying  request 
to  his  majesty,  sent  over  to  Ireland  a  letter,  to  provide  for 
the  bishop's  deliverance.  But  the  word  of  a  king  was 
scarcely  powerful  enough  to  procure  obedience.  However, 
at  length,  the  bishop  was  restored  to  liberty,  though  with- 
out any  public  acquittal,  the   charge   still  lying  dormant 


6-2  BRA^IHALL. 

against  him,  to  be  awakened  when  his  enemies  should 
please.  "But;  alas!"  says  Bishop  Bramhall's  biographer, 
•'  these  were  flashes  that  caused  more  fear  than  hurt:  the 
fier}^  matter  at  last  burst  into  such  thunder-claps,  that 
the  foundation  of  the  whole  kingdom  reeled." 

A  letter  from  Bishop  Bramhali  to  his  wife  written  at 
this  time,  is  here  subjoined  to  show  how  the  virtues  and 
charities  of  domestic  life  blended  with  qualities  of  a  more 
commanding  kind. 
•'My  dearest  joy, 

"  Thou  mayest  see  by  my  delay  in  writing  that  I  am 
not  wilHng  to  write  while  things  are  in  these  conditions. 
But  shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hands  of  God,  and  shall 
we  not  receive  ill  ?  He  gives  and  takes  away,  blessed  be 
His  holy  name !  I  have  been  near  a  fortnight  at  the  black 
rod,  charged  with  a  treason.  Never  any  man  was  more 
innocent  of  that  foul  crime  :  the  ground  is  only  my  re- 
sei-vedness.  God  in  His  mercy,  I  do  not  doubt,  will  send 
us  many  merry  and  happy  days  together  after  this,  when 
this  storm  is  blown  over.  But  this  is  a  time  of  humili- 
ation for  the  present.  By  all  the  love  between  us,  I  re- 
quire thee  that  thou  do  not  cast  down  thyself,  but  bear  it 
with  a  cheerful  mind,  and  trust  in  God  that  He  will 
deliver  us." 

Shortly  after  the  bishop's  return  to  Londonderry,  Sir 
Phelim  O'Neil  contrived  his  ruin  in  the  following 
manner.  He  directed  a  letter  to  him,  wherein  he  desired, 
"  that  according  to  their  articles  such  a  gate  of  the 
city  should  be  delivered  to  him:"  expecting  that  the 
Scots  in  the  place  would  upon  the  discovery  become 
his  executioners.  But  the  person,  who  was  to  manage 
the  matter,  ran  away  with  the  letter.  Though  this 
•lesign  miscarried,  the  bishop  did  not  find  any  safety 
there.  The  city  daily  filling  with  discontented  persons 
out  of  Scotland,  he  began  to  be  afraid,  lest  they  should 
deliver  him  up.  One  night  they  turned  a  cannon  against 
his  house  to  afPrcmt  him ;   whereupon,  being  persuaded  by 


BRAMHALL.  63 

his  fnends  to  look  on  that  as  a  warning,  he  took  their 
advice,  and  privately  embarked  for  England.  Here  he 
continued  active  in  the  kings  service,  till  his  affairs  ^ere 
grown  desperate ;  and  then,  embjarking  with  several  per- 
sons of  distinction,  he  landed  at  Hamburgh  upon  the  Hth 
of  July,  1644.  Shortly  after  the  treaty  of  Uxbridge,  the 
parliaments  of  England  and  Scotland  made  this  one  of 
their  preliminary  demands,  that  Bishop  Bramhall,  together 
with  Archbishop  Laud,  &c.,  should  be  excepted  out  of  the 
general  pardon. 

From  Hamburgh  he  went  to  Brussels,  where  he  con- 
tinued for  the  most  part  till  1648,  with  Sir  Henry  de  Vic, 
the  king's  resident;  constantly  preaching  every  Sunday, 
and  frequently  administering  the  Holy  Communion.  In 
that  year  he  returned  to  Ireland ;  from  whence,  after 
having  undergone  several  dangers  and  difficulties,  he  nar- 
rowly escaped  in  a  little  bark.  All  the  while  he  was 
there,  his  life  was  in  continual  danger.  At  Limerick  he 
was  threatened  with  death,  if  he  did  not  suddenly  depart 
the  town.  At  Portumnagh  indeed  he  afterwards  enjoyed 
more  freedom,  and  an  allowance  of  the  Church  Service, 
under  the  protection  of  the  Marquis  of  Claniicard:  but,  at 
the  revolt  of  Cork,  he  had  a  very  narrow  deliverance.; 
which  deliverance  however  troubled  Cromwell  so  much, 
that  he  declared  he  would  have  given  a  large  sum  of 
money  for  that  Irish  Canterbury,  as  he  called  him.  His 
escape  from  Ireland  is  accounted  wonderful :  for  the  vessel 
he  was  in  was  closely  hunted  by  two  of  the  parliament 
frigates ;  and  when  they  were  come  so  near,  that  all  hopes 
of  being  saved  were  taken  away,  on  the  sudden  the  wind 
sunk  into  a  perfect  calm,  yet  some  how  suffered  the  vessel 
ti)  get  off,  while  the  frigates  were  unable  to  proceed  at  all. 
During  this  second  time  of  being  abroad,  he  had  many 
controversies  on  the  subject  of  religion  with  the  learned  o( 
all  nations,  sometimes  occasionally,  at  other  times  by  ap- 
pointment and  formal  challenge ;  and  wrote  several  works 
in  defence  of  the  Church  of  England  :  indeed,  most  of  his 
works  were  written  at  different  times  during  his  exile 


64  BRAMHALL. 

from  Ireland,  between  the  years  1613  and  1660.  Among 
tbese  we  may  especially  mention  his  "Answer  to  M.  de 
Milletiere  his  impertinent  dedication  of  his  imaginary  tri- 
umph :  intitled,  the  Victory  of  Truth ;  or  his  epistle  to  the 
king  of  Great  Britain,  wherein  he  invited  his  majesty  to 
forsake  the  Church  of  England,  and  to  embrace  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion :  with  the  said  Milletiere's 
epistle  prefixed."  This  was  first  published  at  the  Hague 
in  1654,  r2mo,  but  not  by  the  author.  It  was  occasioned 
by  the  fact,  that  the  Romanists  endeavoured  to  persuade 
king  Charles  11.  during  his  exile,  to  expect  his  restoration 
by  embracing  their  religion :  and  for  that  pui'pose  employ- 
ed Milletiere,  councillor  in  ordinary  to  the  king  of  France, 
to  write  him  this  epistle.  We  may  here  mention  that  Theo- 
phile  Brachet,  Sieurde  la  Milletiere,  was  originally  a  mem- 
ber of  the  French  Reformed  congregations,  and  sufficiently 
distinguished  among  them  to  be  selected  as  a  deputy  and 
secretary  to  the  Assembly  of  La  Rocbelle  in  1621,  He 
entered  subsequently  into  the  plans  of  Cardinal  Richelieu 
for  the  union  of  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Reformed 
Churches  in  France, — published  a  great  number  of  letters, 
pamphlets,  and  treatises  upon  the  doctrines  in  dispute 
between  them,  assimilating  gradually  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  tenets, — was  suspended  in  consequence  by  the 
Synod  of  Alengon  in  1637,  and  expelled  by  that  of  Cha- 
renton  in  1645,  from  the  Reformed  communion, — aiKi 
finally  became  a  Roman  Catholic  "  of  necessity,  that  he 
might  be  of  some  religion."  "  He  was  a  vain  and  shallow 
man,  full  of  himself,  and  persuaded  that  nothing  ap- 
proached to  his  own  merit  and  capacity ;"  and,  after  his 
change  of  religion,  "  was  perpetually  playing  the  mis- 
sionary, and  seeking  conferences,  although  he  was  always 
handled  in  them  with  a  severity  sufficient  to  have  damped 
his  courage,  had  he  not  been  gifted  with  a  perversity 
which  nothing  could  conquer"  (Benoit,  Hist,  de  I'Edit  de 
Nantes,  tom.  ii.  liv.  10.  pp.  514,  516).  The  work  to 
which  Bramhall  replied  seems  fully  to  bear  out  the  truth 
of  this  sketch  of  his  character. 


BRAMHALL.  m 

Bramhall  was  thoroughly  armed  as  an  Anglican  divine, 
and  the  reader  will  peruse  with  interest  the  following  ex- 
tract from  this  powerful  work : — 

"  If  jour  intention  be  only  to  invite  his  majesty  to  em- 
brace the  Catholic  Faith,  you  might  have  spared  both  your 
oil  and  labour.  The  Catholic  Faith  flourished  1,200  years 
in  the  world  before  transubstantiation  was  defined  among 
yourselves.  Persons  better  acquainted  with  the  primitive 
times  than  yourself  (unless  you  wrong  one  another)  do 
acknowledge,  that  "  the  Fathers  did  not  touch  either  the 
word  or  the  matter  of  transubstantiation."  Mark  it  well, 
neither  name  nor  thing.  His  majesty  doth  firmly  believe 
ail  supernatural  truth  revealed  in  Sacred  Writ.  He 
embraceth  cheerfully  whatsoever  the  holy  Apostles,  or 
the  Xicene  Fathers,  or  blessed  Athanasius,  in  their 
respective  Creeds,  or  Summaries  of  Catholic  Faith,  did  set 
down  as  necessary  to  be  believed.  He  is  ready  to  receive 
whatsoever  the  Catholic  Church  of  this  age  doth  unanim- 
ously believe  to  be  a  particle  of  saving  truth.  But,  if  you 
seek  to  obtrude  upon  him  the  Roman  Church,  with  its 
adherents,  for  the  Catholic  Church, — excluding  three  parts 
of  four  of  the  Christian  world  from  the  communion  of 
Christ, — or  the  opinions  thereof,  for  articles  and  funda- 
mentals of  Catholic  Faith;  neither  his  reason,  nor  bis 
religion,  nor  his  charity,  will  suffer  him  to  listen  unto 
you.  The  truths  received  by  our  Church,  are  sufficient 
in  point  of  faith  to  make  him  a  good  Catholic.  More  than 
this  your  Roman  bishops,  your  Roman  Church,  your  Tri- 
dentine  Council,  may  not,  cannot,  obtrude  upon  him. 

Listen  to  the  third  general  Council,  that  of  Ephesus, 
which  decreed,  that  '  it  should  be  lawful  for  no  man  to 
publish  or  compose  another  faith'  or  creed  '  than  that 
which  was  defined  by  the  Nicene  Council ;'  and  '  that  who- 
soever should  dare  to  compose  or  offer  any  such  to  any 
persons  willing  to  be  converted  from  paganism,  Judaism, 
or  heresy,  if  they  were  bishops  or  clerks,  should  be  de- 
posed,— if  laymen,  anathematized.'  Suffer  us  to  enjoy 
f2 


66  bra:vihall. 

the  same  creed  the  primitive  Fathers  did,  '  which  none  will 
say  to  have  been  insufficient,  except  they  be  mad,'  as  was 
alleged  by  the  Greeks  in  the  Council  of  Florence.  You 
have  violated  this  canon,  you  have  obtruded  a  new  creed 
upon  Christendom ;  new,  I  say,  not  in  words  only,  but  in 
sense  also. 

Some  things  are  de  Synibolo,  some  things  are  contra 
Symholum,  and  some  things  are  only  prcBter  Symholum. 

Some  things  are  contained  in  the  creed,  either  expressly 
or  virtually,  either  in  the  letter  or  in  the  sense,  and  may 
be  deduced  by  evident  consequence  from  the  creed  ;  as 
the  Deity  of  Christ,  His  Two  Natures,  the  Procession  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  The  addition  of  these  was  properly  no 
addition,  but  an  explication ;  yet  such  an  explication,  no 
person,  no  assembly  under  an  (Ecumenical  council,  can 
impose  upon  the  Catholic  Church.  And  such  an  one  your 
Tridentine  Synod  was  not. 

Secondly,  some  things  are  contra  Synibolum — contrary 
to  the  Symbolical  Faith,  and  either  expressly  or  virtually 
overthrow  some  article  of  it.  These  additions  are  not 
only  unlawful,  but  heretical  also  in  themselves,  and  after 
conviction  render  a  man  a  formal  heretic  : — whether  some 
of  your  additions  be  not  of  this  nature,  I  will  not  now 
dispute. 

Thirdly,  some  things  are  neither  of  the  Faith,  nor 
against  the  Faith,  but  only  besides  the  Faith  ;  that  is, 
opinions  or  truths  of  an  inferior  nature,  which  are  not  so 
necessary  to  be  actually  known :  for  though  all  revealed 
truths  be  alike  necessary  to  be  believed  when  they  are 
known,  yet  all  revealed  truths  are  not  alike  necessary 
to  be  known.  It  is  not  denied  but  that  general  or 
provincial  Councils  may  make  constitutions  concerning 
these  for  unity  and  uniformity,  and  oblige  all  such  as  are 
subject  to  their  jurisdiction  to  receive  them,  either  actively 
or  passively,  without  contumacy  or  opposition.  But  to 
make  these,  or  any  of  these,  a  part  of  the  Creed,  and  to 
oblige  all  Christians  under  pain  of  damnation  to  know 


BRAMHALL.  67 

and  believe  them,  is  really  to  add  to  the  Creed,  and  to 
change  the  Symbolical,  Apostolical  Faith,  to  which  none  can 
add,  from  which  none  can  take  away ;  and  comes  within 
the  compass  of  St.  Paul's  curse, — '  If  we,  or  an  angel 
from  heaven,  shall  preach  unto  you  any  other  gospel'  (or 
faith)  'than  that  which  we  have  preached,  let  him  be 
accursed.'  Such  are,  your  universality  of  the  Roman 
Church  by  the  institution  of  Christ  (to  make  her  the 
mother  of  her  grandmother,  the  Church  of  Jerusalem,  and 
the  mistress  of  her  many  elder  sisters),  your  doctrine  of 
l~)urgatory  and  indulgences,  and  the  worship  of  images, 
and  all  other  novelties  defined  in  the  Council  of  Trent;  all 
which  are  comprehended  in  your  new  Roman  Creed,  and 
obtruded  by  you  upon  all  the  world  to  be  believed  under 
pain  of  damnation.  He  that  can  extract  all  these  out  of 
the  old  Apostolic  Creed,  must  needs  be  an  excellent  che- 
mist, and  may  safely  undertake  to  '  draw  water  out  of  a 
pumice.'  " 

In  the  same  work  we  find  him  speaking  thus  of  the 
Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

"  First,  you  say  we  have  renounced  your  sacrifice  of  the 
Mass.  If  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  be  the  same  with  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Cross>  we  attribute  more  unto  it  than  your- 
selves ;  we  place  our  whole  hope  of  salvation  in  it.  If  you 
understand  another  propitiatory  sacrifice  distinct  from 
that  (as  this  of  the  Mass  seems  to  be  ;  for  confessedly  the 
priest  is  not  the  same,  the  altar  is  not  the  same,  the  tem- 
ple is  not  the  same);  if  you  think  of  any  new  meritorious 
satisfaction  to  God  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  or  of  any  new 
supplement  to  the  merits  of  Christ's  passion ;  you  must 
give  us  leave  to  renounce  your  sacrifice  indeed,  and  to 
adhere  to  the  apostle  ; — '  By  one  offering  he  hath  perfected 
for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified.' 

"  Surely  you  cannot  think  that  Christ  did  actually  sacri- 
fice Himself  at  His  last  supper  (for  then  he  had  redeemed 
the  world  at  His  last  supper;  then  His  subsequent  sacrifice 
npon  the  cross  had  been  superfluous,)  nor  that  the  priest 
now  doth  more  than   Christ  did  then.     We  do  readily 


68  BRAJMHALL. 

acknowledge  an  Eucbaristical  sacrifice  of  prayers  and 
praises :  we  profess  a  commemoration  of  the  sacrifice  of 
the  cross ;  and  in  the  language  of  holy  church,  things 
commemorated  are  related  as  if  they  were  then  acted  ; 
as, — '  Almighty  God,  who  hast  given  us  Thy  Son  as  this 
day  to  be  born  of  a  pure  virgin' : — and,  '  Whose  praise  the 
younger  Innocents  have  this  day  set  forth;' — and  between 
the  x\scension  and  Pentecost,  '  Which  hast  exalted  Thy  Son 
Jesus  Christ  with  great  triumph  into  heaven,  we  beseech 
Thee  leave  us  not  comfortless,  but  send  unto  us  Thy  Holy 
Spirit:'  we  acknowledge  a  representation  of  that  sacrifice 
to  God  the  Father:  we  acknowledge  an  impetration  of  the 
benefit  of  it :  we  maintain  an  application  of  its  virtue  :  so 
here  is  a  commemorative,  impetrative,  applicative  sacrifice. 
Speak  distinctly,  and  1  cannot  understand  what  you  can 
desire  more.  To  make  it  a  suppletory  sacrifice,  to  supply 
the  defects  of  the  only  tru§  sacrifice  of  the  cross,  I  hope 
both  you  and  I  abhor." 

Another  and  perhaps  his  principal  work,  is  "A just 
vindication  of  the  Church  of  England  from  the  unjust 
aspersion  of  criminal  schism ;  wdierein  the  nature  of 
criminal  schism,  the  divers  sorts  of  schismatics,  the 
liberties  and  privileges  of  national  churches,  the  rights  of 
sovereign  magistrates,  the  tyranny,  extortion,  and  schism 
of  the  Roman  court,  with  the  grievances,  complaints,  and 
opposition  of  all  princes  and  states  of  the  Roman  com- 
munion of  old,  and  at  this  very  day,  are  manifested  to 
the  view  of  the  world."  This  was  originally  designed  to 
form  an  appendix  to  the  answer  to  La  Millitiere,  and  is 
intended  to  refute  the  charge  of  schism,  brought  forward 
by  the  Romanists  against  the  Church  of  England.  He 
proves  that  the  separation  was  not  made  by  us,  but  by 
the  court  of  Rome,  that  the  British  Church  was  always 
exempted  from  all  foreign  jurisdiction  for  the  first  six 
hundred  years,  and  had  both  sufficient  authority  and 
sufficient  grounds  to  withdraw  from  obedience  to  Rome. 
This,  indeed,  is  one  of  Bishop  Bramhall's  favourite  topics, 
and  on  these  points  he  is  especially  strong,   as  an  advo- 


BRAMHALL.  69 

cate  of  Anglicanism.  In  this  treatise  we  find  the  following 
pointed  remarks  on  internal  communion.  : — 

"  The  communion  of  the  Christian  Catholic  Church  is 
partly  internal,  partly  external. 

"  The  internal  communion  consists  principally  in  these 
things :  to  believe  the  same  entire  substance  of  saving 
necessary  truth  revealed  by  the  Ajoostles,  and  to  be  ready 
implicitly  in  the  preparation  of  the  mind  to  embrace  all 
other  supernatural  verities  when  they  shall  be  sufficiently 
proposed  to  them  ;  to  judge  charitably  one  of  another ;  to 
exclude  none  from  the  Catholic  communion  and  hope  of 
salvation,  either  eastern,  or  western,  or  southern,  or  north- 
ern Christians,  which  profess  the  ancient  Faith  of  the  Apos- 
tles and  primitive  Fathers,  established  in  the  first  general 
Councils,  and  comprehended  in  the  Apostolic,  Nicene,  and 
Athanasian  Creeds;  to  rejoice  at  their  well  doing;  to  sorrow 
for  their  sins ;  to  condole  with  them  in  their  sufferings  ; 
to  pray  for  their  constant  perseverance  in  the  true  Chris- 
tian Faith,  for  their  reduction  from  all  their  respective 
errors,  and  their  re-union  to  the  Church  in  case  they  be 
divided  from  it,  that  we  may  be  all  one  sheepfold  under 
that  One  Great  •  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  our  souls;'  and, 
lastly,  to  hold  an  actual  external  communion  with  them 
'  in  votis — in  our  desires,  and  to  endeavour  it  by  all  those 
means  which  are  in  our  power.  This  internal  communion 
is  of  absolute  necessity  among  all  Catholics. 

"External  communion  consists,  first,  in  the  same  Creeds 
or  Symbols  or  Confessions  of  Faith,  which  are  the  ancient 
badges  or  cognizances  of  Christianity ;  secondly,  in  the 
participation  of  the  same  sacraments ;  thirdly,  in  the 
same  external  worship,  and  frequent  use  of  the  same 
Divine  Offices  or  Liturgies  or  forms  of  serving  God  ; 
fourthly,  in  the  use  of  the  same  public  rites  and  cere- 
monies ;  fifthly,  in  giving  communicatory  letters  from  one 
church  or  one  person  to  another;  and,  lastly,  in  admission 
of  the  same  discipline,  and  subjection  to  the  same  supreme 
ecclesiastical  authority,  that  is.  Episcopacy,  or  a  general 
Council  :  for  as  single  bishops  are  the  heads  of  particular 


70  BRAMHALL. 

churches,  so  Episcopacy,  that  is,  a  general  Council,  or 
(Ecumenical  assembly  of  bishops,  is  the  head  of  the 
universal  Church." 

And  a  little  after  we  find  him  stating  who  are  Catholics, 
and  who  are  not. 

"  To  sum  up  all  that  hath  been  said ;  whosoever  doth 
preserve  his  obedience  entire  to  the  universal  Church,  and 
its  representative  a  general  Council,  and  to  all  his  supe- 
riors in  their  due  order,  so  far  as  by  law  he  is  obliged  ; 
who  holds  an  internal  communion  with  all  Christians,  and 
an  external  communion  so  far  as  he  can  with  a  good  con- 
science ;  who  approves  no  reformation  but  that  which  is 
made  by  lawful  authority,  upon  sufiQcient  grounds,  with 
due  moderation;  who  derives  his  Christianity  by  the  unin- 
terrupted line  of  Apostolical  succession ;  who  contents 
himself  with  his  proper  place  in  the  ecclesiastical  body  ; 
who  disbelieves  nothing  contained  in  Holy  Scripture,  and 
if  he  hold  any  errors  unwittingly  and  unwillingly,  doth 
implicitly  renounce  them  by  his  fuller  and  more  firm  ad- 
herence to  that  infallible  rule ;  who  believeth  and  prac- 
tiseth  all  those  credenda  and  agenda,  which  the  universal 
Church  spread  over  the  face  of  the  earth  doth  unanim- 
ously believe  and  practise  as  necessary  to  salvation,  without 
condemning  or  censuring  others  of  different  judgment  from 
himself  in  inferior  questions,  without  obtruding  his  own 
opinions  upon  others  as  articles  of  Faith ;  who  is  implicitly 
prepared  to  believe  and  do  all  other  speculative  and  prac- 
tical truths,  when  they  shall  be  revealed  to  him  ;  and,  in 
sum,  '  qui  sententiam  diverscB  opinionis  vinculo  non  prcBponit 
unitatis — 'that  prefers  not  a  subtlety  or  an  imaginary 
truth  before  the  bond  of  peace  ;'  he  may  securely  say, 
'My  name  is  Christian,  my  surname  is  Catholic' 

"  From  hence  it  appeareth  plainly,  by  the  rule  of  con- 
traries, who  are  schismatics  ;  whosoever  doth  uncharitably 
make  ruptures  in  the  mystical  Body  of  Christ,  '  or  sets  up 
altar  against  altar'  in  His  Church,  or  withdraws  his  obedi- 
ence from  the  Catholic  Church,  or  its  representative  a 
general  Council,  or  from  any  lawful  superiors,  without  just 


BRAMHALL.  71 

grounds ;  whosoever  doth  hmit  the  Catholic  Church  unto 
his  own  sect,  excludiug  all  the  rest  of  the  Chnstiau  world, 
by  new  doctrines,  or  erroneous  censures,  or  tyrannical 
impositions ;  whosoever  holds  not  internal  communion 
with  all  Christians,  and  external  also  so  far  as  they  con- 
tinue in  a  Catholic  constitution  ;  whosoever,  not  contenting 
himself  v/ith  his  due  place  in  the  Church,  doth  attempt  to 
usurp  an  higher  place,  to  the  disorder  and  disturbance  of 
the  whole  body  ;  whosoever  takes  upon  him  to  reform 
without  just  authority  and  good  grounds  ;  and,  lastly, 
Vv^hosoever  doth  wilfully  break  the  line  of  Apostolical  suc- 
cession, which  is  the  very  nerves  and  sinews  of  ecclesias- 
tical unity  and  communion,  both  with  the  present  Church, 
and  with  the  Catholic  Symbolical  Church  of  all  successive 
ages  ;  he  is  a  schismatic  (qua  talis),  whether  he  be  guilty 
of  heretical  pravity  or  not. 

"Now,  having  seen  who  are  schismatics,  for  clearing  the 
state  of  the  question  whether  the  Church  of  England  be 
schismatical  or  not,  it  remaineth  to  shew  in  a  word  what 
we  understand  by  the  Church  of  England. 

First,  we  understand  not  the  English  natiou  alone,  but 
the  English  dominion,  including  the  British,  and  Scottish 
or  Irish,  Christians :  for  Ireland  was  the  right  Scotia 
major ;  and  that  which  is  now  called  Scotland,  was  then 
inhabited  by  British  and  Irish  under  the  name  of  Picts 
and  Scots. 

"  Secondly,  though  I  make  not  the  least  doubt  in  the 
world,  but  that  the  Church  of  England  before  the  Reforma- 
tion and  the  Church  of  England  after  the  Reformation  are 
as  much  the  same  Church,  as  a  garden,  before  it  is  weeded 
and  after  it  is  weeded,  is  the  same  garden  ;  or  a  vine, 
before  it  be  pruned  and  after  it  is  pruned  and  freed  from 
the  luxuriant  branches,  is  one  and  the  same  vine ;  yet, 
because  the  Roman  Catholics  do  not  object  schism  to  the 
Popish  Church  of  England,  but  to  the  Reformed  Church, 
therefore,  in  this  question,  by  the  Church  of  England  we 
understand  that  Church,  which  was  derived  by  lineal  suc- 
cession from  the  British,   English  and  Scottish  bishops. 


T2  BRAMHALL. 

by  mixed  ordiDation,  as  it  was  legally  established  in  the 
days  of  king  Edward  the  Sixth,  and  flourished  in  the 
reigns  of  queen  Elizabeth,  king  James,  and  king  Charles 
of  blessed  memory,  and  now  groans  under  the  heavy  yoke 
of  persecution;  w^hether  this  Church  be  schismatical  by 
reason  of  its  secession  and  separation  from  the  Church  of 
Rome,  and  the  supposed  withdrawing  of  its  obedience 
from  the  Patriarchal  jurisdiction  of  the  Roman  bishop." 

His  replication  to  the  Bishop  of  Chalcedon,  Richard 
Smith,  first  bishop  of  the  Romish  schism  in  this  country, 
was  written  in  answ^er  to  that  titular's  "  Survey  of  the 
Vindication  of  the  Church  of  England  from  criminous 
Schism,"  which  appeared  in  1654.  The  replication  was 
printed  in  London  in  1656.  The  unsold  copies  of  this 
edition  w^ere  bound  up  under  a  common  title-page  with 
the  new  impression  of  1661  of  the  Just  Vindication.  In 
the  dedication  of  this  work  to  The  Christian  Reader,  he 
says,  "  no  man  can  justly  blame  me  for  honouring  my 
spiritual  mother  the  Church  of  England  ;  in  whose  womb 
I  was  conceived,  at  whose  breasts  I  was  nourished,  and  in 
whose  bosom  I  hope  to  die.  Bees,  by  the  instinct  of 
nature,  do  love  their  hives,  and  birds  their  nests.  But 
God  is  my  witness,  that  according  to  my  uttermost  talent, 
and  poor  understanding,  I  have  endeavoured  to  set  down 
the  naked  truth  impartially,  without  either  favour  or  pre- 
judice, the  two  capital  enemies  of  right  judgment ; — the 
one  of  which,  like  a  false  mirror,  doth  represent  things 
fairer  and  straighter  than  they  are ;  the  other,  like  the 
tongue  infected  with  choler,  makes  the  sweetest  meats  to 
taste  bitter.  My  desire  hath  been  to  have  truth  for  my 
chiefest  friend,  and  no  enemy  but  error.  If  I  have  had 
any  bias,  it  hath  been  desire  of  peace,  which  our  common 
Saviour  left  as  a  legacy  to  His  Church ;  that  I  might  live 
to  see  the  re-union  of  Christendom,  for  which  I  shall 
always  bow  the  '  knees  of  my  heart'  to  the  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  not  impossible  but  that  this 
desire  of  unity  may  have  produced  some  unwilling  error 
of  love,  but  certainly  I   am  most  free  from  the  wulful  love 


BRAMHALL.  13 

of  error.  In  questions  of  an  inferior  nature  Christ 
regards  a  charitable  intention  much  more  than  a  right 
opinion. 

"  Howsoever  it  be,  I  submit  myself  and  my  poor  endea- 
vours, first,  to  the  judgment  of  the  Catholic  CEcumenical 
essential  Church  :  which  if  some  of  late  days  have  endea- 
voured to  hiss  out  of  the  schools  as  a  fancy,  I  cannot  help 
it.  From  the  beginning  it  was  not  so.  And  if  I  should 
mistake  the  right  Catholic  Church  out  of  human  frailty  or 
ignorance  (which  for  my  part  I  have  no  reason  in  the 
world  to  suspect;  yet  it  is  not  impossible,  when  the 
Romanists  themselves  are  divided  into  five  or  six  several 
opinions,  what  this  Catholic  Church,  or  what  their  infalli- 
ble judge  is),  I  do  implicitly  and  in  the  preparation  of  my 
mind  submit  myself  to  the  true  Catholic  Church,  the 
spouse  of  Christ,  the  mother  of  the  saints,  the  'pillar  of 
truth.'  And  seeing  my  adherence  is  firmer  to  the  infal- 
lible rule  of  Faith,  that  is,  the  Holy  Scriptures  interpreted 
by  the  Catholic  Church,  than  to  mine  own  private  judg- 
ment or  opinions  ;  although  I  should  unwittingly  fall 
into  an  error,  yet  this  cordial  submission  is  an  implicit 
retractation  thereof,  and  I  am  confident  will  be  so  accept- 
ed by  the  Father  of  Mercies,  both  from  me  and  all  others 
who  seriously  and  sincerely  do  seek  after  peace  and 
truth. 

"  Likewise  I  submit  myself  to  the  representative 
Church,  that  is,  a  free  general  Council,  or  so  general  as 
can  be  procured  ;  and  until  then,  to  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, wherein  I  was  baptized,  or  to  a  national  English 
Synod  :  to  the  determination  of  all  which,  and  each  of 
them  respectively,  according  to  the  distinct  degrees  of 
their  authority,  I  yield  a  conformity  and  compliance,  or  at 
the  least,  and  to  the  lowest  of  them,  an  acquiescence.' 

In  1658  appeared  his  "Schism  guarded  and  beaten  back 
upon  the  right  Owners,  shewing  that  our  great  contro- 
versy about  Papal  Power  is  not  a  question  of  Faith,  but  of 
Interest  and  Profit ;  not  with  the  Church  of  Rome  but 
VOL.  Til.  a 


T4  BRAMHALL. 

with  the  Court  of  Rome  ;  wherein  the  true  controversy 
doth  consist ;  who  were  the  first  Innovators ;  when  and 
where  these  Papal  Innovations  first  began  in  England  ; 
with  the  opposition  that  was  made  against  them."  It 
commences  with  the  following  address  to  "  The  Chris- 
tian Readers,"  especially  to  the  Roman  Catholics  of 
England  : — 

"  Christian  Reader, 

"  The  great  bustling  in  the  controversy  concerning  Papal 
power,  or  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  hath  been  either 
about  the  true  sense  of  some  texts  of  Holy  Scripture  ;  as, 
'Thou  art  Peter,'  and,  'upon  this  rock  will  I  build  My 
Church,'  and,  '  To  thee  will  I  give  the  keys  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,'  and  '  Feed  My  sheep  :'  or  about  some 
privileges,  conferred  upon  the  Roman  See  by  the  canons 
of  the  Fathers,  and  the  edicts  of  emperors,  but  pretended 
by  the  Roman  Court  and  the  maintainors  thereof  to  be 
held  by  Divine  right.  I  endeavour  in  this  treatise  to  dis- 
abuse thee,  and  to  shew  that  this  challenge  of  Divine 
right  is  but  a  blind,  or  diversion,  to  withhold  thee  from 
finding  out  the  true  state  of  the  question.  So  the  hare 
makes  her  doubles  and  her  jumps  before  she  comes  to  her 
form,  to  hinder  tracers  from  finding  her  out. 

"  I  demonstrate  to  thee,  that  the  true  controversy  is  not 
concerning  St.  Peter;  we  have  no  formed  difference  about 
St.  Peter,  nor  about  any  point  of  Faith,  but  of  interest  and 
profit ;  nor  with  the  Church  of  Rome,  but  with  the  Court 
of  Rome:  and  wherein  it  doth  consist ;  namely,  in  these 
questions, — who  shall  confer  English  Bishoprics;  who 
shall  convocate  English  synods  ;  who  shall  receive  tenths 
and  first-fruits  and  oaths  of  allegiance  and  fidelity ;  whe- 
ther the  Pope  can  make  binding  laws  in  England  without 
the  consent  of  the  king  and  kingdom,  or  dispense  with 
English  laws  at  his  own  pleasure,  or  call  English  subjects 
to  Rome  without  the  prince's  leave,  or  set  up  legantine 
courts  in  England  against  their  wills.     And  this  I  shew 


BEAMHALL.  75 

not  out  of  the  opinions  of  particular  authors,  but  out  of 
the  pubhc  laws  of  the  kingdom. 

"  I  prove  moreover  out  of  our  fundamental  laws  and 
the  writings  of  our  best  historiographers,  that  all  these 
branches  of  Papal  power  were  abuses  and  innovations  and 
usurpations,  first  attempted  to  be  introduced  into  England 
above  eleven  hundred  years  after  Christ ;  with  the  names 
of  the  innovators,  and  the  precise  time  when  each  innova- 
tion began,  and  the  opposition  that  was  made  against  it, 
by  our  kings,  by  our  bishops,  by  our  peers,  by  our  parlia- 
ments, with  the  groans  of  the  kingdom  under  these  Papal 
innovations  and  extortions. 

"  Likewise,  in  point  of  doctrine,  thou  hast  been  in- 
structed, that  the  Catholic  Faith  doth  comprehend  all  those 
points  which  are  controverted  between  us  and  the  Church 
of  Rome,  without  the  express  belief  whereof  no  Christian 
can  be  saved ;  whereas,  in  truth,  all  these  are  but  opinions, 
yet  some  more  dangerous  than  others.  If  none  of  them 
had  ever  been  started  in  the  world,  there  is  sufiQcient  to 
salvation  for  points  to  be  believed  in  the  Apostles'  Creed. 
Into  this  Apostolical  Faith,  professed  in  the  Creed  and  ex- 
plicated by  the  four  first  general  Councils,  and  only  into 
this  Faith,  we  have  all  been  baptized.  Far  be  it  from  us 
to  imagine,  that  the  Catholic  Church  hath  evermore  bap- 
tized, and  doth  still  baptize,  but  into  one  half  of  the 
Christian  Faith. 

"  In  sum. — Dost  thou  desire  to  live  in  the  communion 
of  the  true  Catholic  Church  ?  So  do  I.  But  as  I  dare  not 
change  the  cognizance  of  my  Christianity,  that  is,  my 
Creed  ;  nor  enlarge  the  Christian  Faith  (I  mean  the  essen- 
tials of  it)  beyond  those  bounds  which  the  Apostles  have 
set ;  so  I  dare  not  (to  serve  the  interest  of  the  Roman 
Court)  limit  the  Catholic  Church,  which  Christ  hath  pur- 
chased with  His  blood,  to  a  fourth  or  a  fifth  part  of  the 
Christian  world. 

♦'  Thou  art  for  tradition,  so  am  I.  But  my  tradition  is 
not  the  tradition  of  one  particular  Church  contradicted  by 
the  tradition  of  another  Church,  but  the   universal  and 


76  BRAMHALL. 

perpetual  tradition  of  the  Christian  ^vorld  united.  Such 
a  tradition  is  a  full  proof,  -sYhich  is  received  '  semper, 
nhique,  et  ah  omnibus — '  always,  every  where,  and  by  all' 
Christians.  Neither  do  I  look  upon  the  opposition  of  a 
handful  of  heretics — they  are  no  more  being  compared  to 
the  innumerable  multitudes  of  Christians) — in  one  or  two 
ages,  as  inconsistent  with  universality,  any  more  than  the 
highest  mountains  are  inconsistent  with  the  roundness  of 
of  the  earth. 

"  Thou  desirest  to  bear  the  same  respect  to  the  Church 
of  Rome  that  thy  ancestors  did  ;  so  do  I.  But  for  that 
fulness  of  power,  yea,  co-active  power  in  the  exterior  court, 
over  the  subjects  of  other  princes,  and  against  their  wills, 
devised  by  the  Court  of  Rome,  not  by  the  Church  of 
Rome, — it  is  that  pernicious  source  from  whence  all  these 
usurpations  did  spring.  Our  ancestors  from  time  to  time 
made  laws  against  it ;  and  our  Reformation  in  point  of  dis- 
cipline, being  rightly  understood,  was  but  a  pui*suing  of 
their  steps.  The  true  controversy  is,  whether  the  bishop 
of  Rome  ought  by  Divine  right  to  have  the  external  regi- 
ment of  the  English  Church,  and  co-active  jurisdiction  in 
English  courts,  over  English  subjects,  against  the  will  of 
the  king  and  the  laws  of  the  kingdom." 

From  this  most  powerful  work,  in  which  the  Anglican 
cause  is  nobly  maintained  against  Popery,  many  extracts 
might  be  made  of  assertions  generally  as  well  as  contro- 
versially useful.  We  may  give  as  an  example  his  position 
that  every  one  involved  in  a  schism  is  not  a  formal  schis- 
matic. His  words  are  "  Every  one  who  is  involved  mate- 
rially in  a  schism,  is  not  a  formal  schismatic ;  no  more 
than  she  that  marrieth  after  long  expectation,  believing, 
and  having  reason  to  believe,  that  her  former  husband 
was  dead,  is  a  formal  adulteress  ;  or  than  he  who  is  drawn 
to  give  Divine  worship  to  a  creature  by  some  misappre- 
hension, yet  addressing  his  devotions  to  the  true  God,  is 
a  formal  idolater.  A  man  may  be  '  haptisatus  voto'  (as 
St.  Ambrose  said) — 'baptized  in  his  desire,'  and  God 
Almighty  doth  accept  it ;  why  may  he  not  as  well  commu- 


BRAMHALL.  77 

nicate  in  his  desire,  and  be  accepted  with  God  likewise  ? 
If  St.  Austin  sav  true  of  heresy,  that  '  he  who  did  not 
run  into  his  error  out  of  his  own  overweening  presumption, 
nor  defends  it  pertinaciously,  but  received  it  from  his 
seduced  parents,  and  is  careful  to  search  out  the  truth, 
and  ready  to  be  corrected  if  he  find  it  out,  he  is  not  to  be 
reputed  among  heretics. '  It  is  much  more  true  of  schism, 
that  he  who  is  involved  in  schism  through  the  error  of  his 
parents  or  predecessors,  who  seeketh  carefully  for  the 
truth,  and  is  prepared  in  his  mind  to  embrace  it  when- 
soever he  finds  it,  he  is  not  to  be  reputed  a  schismatic. 
This  very  bond  of  unity,  and  preparation  of  his  mind  to 
peace,  is  an  implicit  renunciation  and  abjuration  of  his 
schism  before  God.  This  is  as  comfortable  a  ground  for 
ignorant  Roman  Catholics,  as  for  any  persons  that  I  know; 
who  are  hurried  hood-winked  into  erroneous  tenets  as 
necessary  points  of  Faith,  and  schismatical  practices, 
merely  by  the  authority,  and  to  uphold  the  interest  and 
ambitious  or  avaricious  courses,  of  the  Roman  Court." 

Speaking  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  in  this  work,  he 
remarks, — "We  do  not  suffer  any  man  'to  reject'  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England  '  at  his 
pleasure  ;'  yet  neither  do  we  look  upon  them  as  essentials 
of  saving  Faith,  or  'legacies  of  Christ  and  of  His  x\postles;' 
but  in  a  mean,  as  pious  opinions  fitted  for  the  preservation 
of  unity :  neither  do  we  oblige  any  man  to  believe  them, 
but  only  not  to  contradict  them." 

In  Bishop  Bramhalls  "The  Consecration  and  succes- 
sion of  Protestant  Bishops  justified,"  the  "infamous  fable" 
of  the  ordination  at  the  Xag's  Head  is  clearly  confuted  And 
we  may  add  that,  in  the  last  edition  of  Bramhall 's  works  in 
the  Anglo-catholic  library,  the  editor  pursues  the  subject, 
and  vindicates  our  ordinations  against  the  dishonest  refer- 
ence to  this  fable  on  the  part  of  modern  Romanists.  The 
Romanists  never  had  a  more  powerful  opponent  than  this 
great  prelate,  who  opposes  them  entirely  upon  Anglican 
grounds,  and  the  member  of  the  Church  of  England  who 
G-2 


78  BRAMHALL. 

should  join  the  Romish  schismatics  in  this  country,  with- 
out first  studying  the  works  of  Bramhall,  would  incur  an 
awful  responsibility. 

His  works  against  English  sectaries  are  of  equal 
vigour  : — 1.  Fair  warning  to  take  heed  of  the  Scottish  dis- 
cipline, as  being  of  all  others  most  injurious  to  the  civil 
magistrate,  most  oppressive  to  the  subject,  most  pernicious  ' 
to  both.  Written  in  the  beginning  of  the  civil  wars. 
2.  The  Serpent  salve :  or,  a  remedy  for  the  biting  of  an 
asp.  Written  in  vindication  of  king  Charles  I.,  wherein 
the  author  endeavours  to  prove,  that  power  is  not  originally 
inherent  in,  and  derived  from,  the  people.  First  printed 
in  1643,  and  was  his  first  publication.  3.  Vindication  of 
himself  and  the  Episcopal  Clergy  from  the  Presbyterian 
charge  of  Popery,  as  it  is  managed  by  Mr.  Baxter  in  his 
treatise  of  the  Grotian  religion. 

There  are  several  publications  of  BramhalFs  against 
Mr.  Hobbes. — 1.  A  Defence  of  true  liberty  from  an- 
tecedent and  extrinsical  necessity.  Printed  in  1656. 
2.  Castigations  of  Mr.  Hobbes's  animadversions  upon  the 
same,  in  1658.  3.  The  Catching  of  Leviathan,  or  the 
great  whale.  Demonstrating  out  of  Mr.  Hobbes's  own 
works,  that  no  man,  who  is  thoroughly  an  Hobbist,  can  be 
a  good  Christian,  or  a  good  commonwealth's  man,  or 
reconcile  himself  to  himself:  because  his  principles  are 
not  only  destructive  to  all  religion,  but  to  all  societies, 
extinguishing  the  relation  between  prince  and  subject, 
parent  and  child,  master  and  servant,  husband  and  wife; 
and  abound  with  palpable  contradictions. 

The  controversy  between  Bramhall  and  Hobbes, 
which  gave  occasion  to  the  foregoing  works,  took  its  rise 
from  a  conversation,  that  passed  between  them  at  an 
accidental  meeting,  in  1645,  at  the  house  of  the  Marquis 
of  Newcastle  in  Paris.  It  appears  from  the  works  them- 
selves, that  the  Bishop  subsequently  committed  his 
thoughts  upon  the  subject  to  writing,  and  transmitted 
hi?  "  discourse"  through  the   Marquis  to  Hobbes.     This 


BRAMHALL.  79 

called  forth  an  answer  from  the  latter,  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  Marquis  (dated  Rouen,  Aug.  20,  1645),  to  be  com- 
municated "  only  to  my  Lord  Bishop  ;"  to  which  Bramhall 
replied  in  a  second  paper,  not  however  until  the  middle  of 
the  following  year,  and  privately  as  before.  Here  the 
controversy  rested  for  more  than  eight  years,  having  been 
hitherto  carried  on  with  perfect  courtesy  on  both  sides. 
In  1654,  however,  a  friend  of  Hobbes  procured  without 
his  knowledge  a  copy  of  his  letter,  and  published  it  in 
London  with  Hobbes'  name,  but  with  the  erroneous  date 
of  1652  for  1645  ;  upon  which  Bramhall,  finding  himself 
thus  deceived,  rejoined  in  the  next  year  by  the  publication 
of  the  "  Defence,  &c."  (Lond.  1655.  8vo.)  consisting  of  his 
own  original  "  discourse,"  of  Hobbes'  answer,  and  of  his 
own  re]>ly,  printed  sentence  by  sentence,  with  a  dedication 
to  the  Marquis  of  Newcastle,  and  an  advertisement  to  the 
reader  explaining  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was 
published. 

The  fourth  part  of  the  folio  edition  of  Bi-amhall's  works 
contains  his  smaller  pieces  and  occasional  sermons.  From 
these  we  present  the  reader  with  the  bishop's  opinion  "  of 
persons  dying  without  baptism  :" 

"  The  discourse  which  happened  the  other  day,  about 
your  little  daughter,  I  had  quite  forgotten  till  you  were 
pleased  to  mention  it  again  last  night.  If  any  thing  did 
fall  from  me,  which  gave  offence  to  any  there  present,  I 
am  right  sorrowful,  but  I  hope  there  did  not ;  as,  on  the 
other  side,  if  any  occasion  of  offence  had  been  given  to 
me,  I  should  readily  have  sacrificed  it  to  that  reverend 
respect,  which  is  due  to  the  place  your  table,  anciently 
accounted  a  sacred  thing,  and  to  the  lord  of  it,  yourself. 
This  morning,  lying  musing  in  my  bed,  it  produced  some 
trouble  to  me,  to  consider  how  passionately  we  are  all 
wedded  to  our  own  parties,  and  how  apt  w^e  are  all  to 
censure  the  opinions  of  others  before  we  understand  them, 
while  our  want  of  charity  is  a  gi-eater  error  in  ourselves, 
and  more  displeasing  to  Almighty  God,  than  any  of  those 
supposed  assertions  which  we  condemn  in  others;   espe- 


80  BRAMHALL. 

cially  when  they  come  to  be  rightly  understood.  And  to 
show  this  particular  breach  is  not  so  wide,  nor  the  more 
moderate  of  either  party  so  disagreeing,  as  is  imagined,  I 
digested  these  sudden  meditations,  drawn  wholly,  in  a 
manner,  from  the  grounds  of  the  Roman  schools ;  and  so 
soon  as  I  was  risen,  I  committed  them  to  writing. 

"  First,  there  is  a  great  difference  to  be  made  between 
the  sole  want  of  Baptism  upon  invincible  necessity,  and 
the  contempt  or  wilful  neglect  of  Baptism  when  it  may  be 
had.  The  latter  we  acknowledge  to  be  a  damnable  sin, 
and,  without  repentance  and  God's  extraordinaiy  mercy, 
to  exclude  a  man  from  all  hope  of  salvation.  But  yet  if 
such  a  person,  before  his  death,  shall  repent  and  deplore 
his  neglect  of  the  means  of  grace,  from  his  heart,  and 
desire,  with  all  his  soul,  to  be  baptized,  but  is  debarred 
from  it  invincibly,  we  do  not,  w^e  dare  not  pass  sentence  of 
condemnation  upon  him  ;  nor  yet  the  Roman  Catholics 
themselves.  The  question  then  is,  whether  the  want  of 
Baptism,  upon  invincible  necessity,  do  evermore  infallibly 
exclude  from  heaven  ? 

"Secondly,  we  distinguish  between  the  visible  sign,  and 
the  invisible  grace ;  between  the  exterior  sacramental 
ablution,  and  the  grace  of  the  Sacrament,  that  is,  interior 
Regeneration.  We  believe  that  whosoever  hath  the  former, 
hath  the  latter  also,  so  that  he  do  not  put  a  bar  against 
the  efficacy  of  the  Sacrament  by  his  infidelity  or  hypocrisy, 
of  which  a  child  is  not  capable.  And  therefore  our  very 
Liturgy  doth  teach,  that  a  child  baptized,  dying  before 
the  commission  of  actual  sin,  is  undoubtedly  saved. 

"  Thirdly,  we  believe  that  without  baptismal  grace,  that 
is,  Regeneration,  no  man  can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God.  But  whether  God  hath  so  tied  and  bound  himself 
to  His  ordinances  and  Sacraments  that  He  doth  not  or 
cannot  confer  the  grace  of  the  Sacraments,  extraordinarily, 
where  it  seemeth  good  to  His  eyes,  without  the  outward 
element ;  this  is  the  question  between  us." 

It  is  said  that  he  prepared  a  hundred  sermons  for  the 
press,  but  that  they  were  torn  by  rats  before  his  death. 


BRAMHALL.  81 

At  the  Restoration,  eveiy  one,  of  course,  concluded  that 
Bishop  Bramhall  would  be  nominated  to  that  high  post  in 
the  Church,  which  his  learning,  his  genius,  and  his  piety 
so  eminently  qualified  him  to  occupy.  On  the  18th  of 
January,  1601,  he  was  translated  to  the  archiepiscopal  see 
of  Armagh,  and  became  Lord  Primate  of  Ireland.  How 
acceptable  this  nomination  of  Bishop  Bramhall  was  to  the 
friends  of  the  Church,  appears  from  the  following  letter  of 
congratulation,  which  was  addressed  by  Lord  Caulfield, 
aftei'wards  known  by  the  honourable  epithet  of  the  good 
Lord  Charlemont,  to  the  new  Primate,  on  the  2'^nd  of 
October,  1660. 

*'  As  the  news  of  your  lordship's  safe  arrival  is  most 
welcome  to  me,  so  is  it  likewise  occasion  of  great  re- 
joicing to  all  those  in  the  kingdom  who  truly  fear 
God  and  pray  for  the  welfare  of  His  Church  :  it  being 
yet  fresh  in  the  memories  of  us  all,  how  eminent  an 
instniment  your  lordship  hath  been  long  since  in  the 
propagating  the  true  ancient  Protestant  religion  in  this 
kingdom. 

"  My  lord,  never  had  the  Church  more  need  of  such  a 
champion  than  now  tliat  the  looseness  of  the  late  times 
hath  been  the  occasion  of  so  many  schisms,  and  given 
opportunity  to  such  numberless  number  of  heresies  to 
creep  in  amongst  us,  that  not  many  days  ago  it  was 
hardly  possible  to  find  two  of  one  religion.  And  therein 
are  these  unhappy  northern  quarters  most  miserable, 
abounding  with  all  sorts  of  licentious  persons  ;  but  those 
whom  we  esteem  most  dangerous  are  the  Presbyterian 
factions,  who  do  not  like  publicly  to  preach  up  the 
authority  of  the  kirk  to  be  above  that  of  the  crown  and 
our  dread  sovereign.  I  have  myself  discoursed  with 
divers  of  their  ministers,  both  in  public  and  private, 
who  have  maintained  that  the  kirk  hath  power  to  excom- 
municate their  kings ;  and  when  the  oaths  of  allegiance 
and  supremacy  were  administered  here,  one  of  them  told 
me  that  we  had  pulled  down  one  Pope  and  set  up  another. 
But  I  made  bold  to  inflict  such  punishments  as  I  thought 


82  BRAMHALL. 

were  proper  for  their  offences  ;  and  hindered  their  meet- 
ings where  I  considered  there  might  be  anything  con- 
sulted of,  tending  to  the  breach  of  the  peace,  either  in 
Church  or  commonwealth." 

Soon  after  he  consecrated  two  archbishops  and  ten 
bishops  for  the  vacant  sees  in  Ireland,  and  among  these 
was  the  celebrated  Jeremy  Taylor.  The  consecration,  at  the 
same  time,  and  by  imposition  of  the  same  hands,  of  twelve 
Christian  bishops,  two  of  the  number  being  of  metro- 
politan eminence,  to  their  apostolical  superintendence  of 
the  Church  of  Christ,  is  an  event  probably  without  a 
parallel  in  the  Church.  The  event,  and  its  consequences, 
with  reference  to  the  illustrious  Primate  engaged  in  the 
consecration,  is  thus  noticed  by  Bishop  Taylor  in  his  ser- 
mon preached  at  the  funeral  of  Archbishop  Bramhall  in 
the  year  1663.  "  There  are  gi'eat  things  spoken  of  his 
predecessor,  St.  Patrick,  that  he  founded  seven  hundred 
churches  and  religious  convents  ;  that  he  ordained  five 
thousand  priests  ;  and  with  his  own  hands  consecrated 
three  hundred  and  fifty  bishops.  How  true  the  story  is  I 
know  not ;  but  we  were  all  witnesses  that  the  late  Primate, 
whose  memory  we  now  celebrate,  did  by  an  extraordinary 
contingency  of  Providence,  in  one  day,  consecrate  two 
archbishops  and  ten  bishops  ;  and  did  benefit  to  almost  all 
the  churches  of  Ireland  ;  and  was  greatly  instrumental  in 
the  re-endowments  of  the  whole  clergy;  and  in  the  greatest 
abilities  and  incomparable  industry  was  inferior  to  none 
of  his  antecessors." 

The  same  year  he  visited  his  diocese,  which  he  found 
in  the  greatest  disorder,  some  having  committed  horrible 
outrages,  and  many  imbibed  violent  prejudices  both 
against  himself,  and  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the 
Church.  By  lenity  and  firmness,  reproof,  argument,  and 
persuasion,  he  at  last  gained  the  point  at  which  he 
aimed. 

Bishop  Mant,  in  his  history  of  the  Church  of  Ireland, 
quotes  a  passage  from  Archbishop  Vesey's  life  of  Arch- 
bishop Bramhall,   and  explains  it :  the  passage,  and  the 


BPtAMHALL.  83 

explanation,  which  appears  to  be  perfectly  satisfactory,  we 
submit  to  the  reader. 

"When  the  benefices  were  called  at  the  visitation,  seve- 
ral appeared,  and  exhibited  only  such  titles  as  they  had 
received  from  the  late  powers.  He  told  them,  they  w-ere 
no  legal  titles ;  but  m  regard  he  heard  well  of  them,  he 
w^as  willing  to  make  such  to  them  by  institution  and 
induction,  which  they  humbly  acknowledged,  and  intreated 
his  lordship  so  to  do.  But,  desiring  to  see  their  letteis 
of  orders,  some  had  no  other  but  their  certificates  of  ordi- 
nation by  some  Pivsbyterian  classes,  which,  he  told  them, 
did  not  qualify  them  for  any  preferment  in  the  Church. 
Whereupon  the  question  imraediatrly  arose,  '  Are  we  not 
ministers  of  the  Gospel?'  To  which  his  grace  answered, 
that  that  was  not  the  question  :  at  least  he  desired  for 
peace  sake,  of  which  he  hoped  they  were  ministers  too, 
that  that  might  not  be  the  question  for  that  time.  '  I 
dispute  not,'  said  he,  '  the  value  of  your  ordination, 
nor  those  acts  you  have  exercised  by  virtue  of  it :  what 
you  are,  or  might  do,  here  when  there  was  no  law,  or  in 
other  Churches  abroad.  But  we  are  now  to  consider  our- 
selves as  a  National  Church,  limited  by  law%  which  among 
other  things  takes  chief  care  to  prescribe  about  ordination ; 
and  I  do  not  know,  how  you  could  recover  the  means  of 
the  Church,  if  any  should  refuse  to  pay  you  your  tithes, 
if  you  are  not  ordained,  as  the  law  of  this  Church  requi- 
reth.  And  I  am  desirous,  that  she  may  have  your  labours, 
and  you  such  portions  of  her  revenue,  as  shall  be  allotted 
you  in  a  legal  and  assured  way.'  By  this  means  he 
gained  such  as  were  learned  and  sober ;  and  for  the  rest  it 
was  not  much  matter," 

"Just  as  I  was  about  to  close  up  this  particular,"  con- 
tinues the  biogi'apher,  "  I  received  full  assurance  of  all 
that  I  offered  in  it,  which  for  the  reader's  sake  I  thought 
fit  to  add,  being  the  very  words  which  his  grace  caused  to 
be  inserted  in  the  letters  of  one  Mr.  Edward  Parkinson, 
whom  he  ordained  at  that  time,  and  from  whom  I  had 
them  by  my  reverend   brother  and  neighbour,   the  Lord 


84  BRAMHALL. 

Bishop  of  Killalow.  '  Non  annihilantes  priores  ordines, 
(si  quos  habuit,)  uec  validitalem  aut  invaliditatem  eorum 
determinantes,  multo  minus  omnes  ordines  sacros  eccle- 
siarum  forensicarum  condemnantes,  quos  proprio  judici 
relinquimus  :  sed  solummodo  supplentes,  quicquid  phus 
defuit,  per  Canones  Ecclesiae  Anglicanae  requisitum ;  et 
providentes  paci  ecclesise,  ut  schismatis  tollatur  occasio,  et 
conscientiis  fidelium  satisfiat,  nee  uUo  modo  dubitent  de 
ejus  ordinatione,  aut  actus  suos  Presbyteriales  tanquam 
invalidos  aversentur :  in  cujus  rei  testimonium,  &c." 

From  this  statement  and  document,  says  Bishop  Mant, 
the  reader  will  understand,  that,  on  admitting  to  episcopal 
orders  a  person  who  had  been  previously  ordained  by 
Presbyterians,  Primate  Bramhall  made  profession,  "that 
he  did  not  annul  the  minister's  former  orders,  if  he  had 
any,  nor  determine  their  validity  or  invalidity ;  much  less 
did  he  condemn  all  the  sacred  orders  of  the  foreign 
Churches,  whom  he  left  to  their  own  Judge  :  but  that  he 
only  supplied,  whatever  was  before  w^anting,  as  required 
by  the  canons  of  the  Anglican  Church ;  and  that  he  pro- 
vided for  the  peace  of  the  Church,  that  occasion  of  schism 
might  be  removed,  and  the  consciences  of  the  faithful 
satisfied,  and  that  they  might  have  no  manner  of  doubt 
of  his  ordination,  nor  decline  his  presbyterial  acts  as  being 
invalid."  And  this  profession  the  primate  inserted  in  the 
newly-ordained  minister  s  "  letters,"  his  letters  of  orders, 
as  they  are  technically  called ;  being  the  regular  certifi- 
cate, or  formal  official  testimonial,  which  every  clergyman 
of  the  Church  receives,  of  his  having  been  lawfully 
ordained. 

It  is,  therefore,  not  a  little  remarkable,  that  this 
account  should  have  been  taken  by  a  respectable  historian 
of  the  Church  of  England,  as  the  ground  for  an  assertion, 
that,  with  regard  to  any  ministers  w^ho  had  received  Pres- 
byterian orders  in  the  confusion  of  the  great  Rebellion, 
the  method,  employed  by  Archbishop  Bramhall,  was,  not 
to.  cause  them  to  "  undergo  a  new  ordination,  but  to 
admit   them    into    the    ministry    of    the    Church,    by    a 


BRx\MHALL.  85 

conditional  ordination,  as  we  do  in  the  baptism  of  those, 
of  whom  it  is  uncertain,  whether  thej  are  baptized 
or  not." 

But  this  assertion  is  not  supported  by  the  statement  of 
Bishop  Vesey,  and  the  document  alleged  by  him  :  on  the 
contrary  it  is  directly  opposed  to  both.  For  they  give 
us  to  understand,  that  the  archbishop  did  "  ordain'"  the 
persons  in  question,  "  as  the  law  of  this  Church  re- 
quireth ;"  therefore  not  conditionally,  for  the  law  of  this 
Church  recognises  no  conditional  ordination :  but  that 
subsequently  he  introduced  into  his  "  letters"  of  orders  an 
explanatory  remark.  The  historian  seems  to  identify  the 
form  of  ordination  with  the  subsequent  letters  of  orders, 
or  certificate.  But,  whatever  be  the  cause,  the  error  is 
manifest :  and  it  requires  correction,  both  that  the 
character  of  such  a  man,  as  Primate  Bramhall,  may  be 
vindicated  from  the  allegation,  and  even  from  the  suspi- 
cion, of  illegally  deviating  from  the  prescript  forms  of  the 
Church,  whereas  he  acted  professedly  and  strictly,  "  as  the 
law  of  the  Church  requireth  ;"  and  that  the  principles 
and  provisions  of  the  Church  herself  may  not  be  misappre- 
hended, in  a  matter  of  such  infinite  importance  as  the 
due  ordination  of  candidates  for  the  sacred  ministry. 

He  was  officially  president  of  the  Convocation,  and  was 
chosen  speaker  of  the  House  of  Lords,  in  the  parliament 
which  met  May  8th,  1661.  On  the  31st  of  May,  1661, 
the  Irish  House  of  Commons  adopted  a  course,  to  propose 
which  in  the  present  House  of  Commons  would  be  deemed 
a  mark  of  insanity  :  the  Master  of  the  Wards  reported 
to  the  house,  that  according  to  their  order  he  had  waited 
on  the  Lord  Primate  with  an  intimation  of  their  request, 
that  the  Holy  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  might  be 
administered  to  them  by  his  hands  ;  that  he  had  accord- 
ingly appointed  the  Sabbath  Day  next  come  fortnight  for 
the  celebration  at  St.  Patrick's  Church,  according  to  the 
Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  Ireland,  and  the  Friday  before 
for  a  preparatory  sermon  between  nine   and  ten  in  the 

VOL.  III.  H 


86  BRAMHALL. 

morning.  The  subject  of  the  sermon,  delivered  in  pur- 
suance of  this  appointment,  was  the  duty  of  repentance, 
as  testified  by  the  forsaking  and  amendment  of  former 
sins.  By  order  of  the  house,  on  the  17th  of  June,  thanks 
were  returned  to  his  grace  for  his  great  pains  on  the 
occasion,  with  a  request  that  he  would  cause  the  sermon 
to  be  printed,  which  was  in  consequence  done,  and  the 
sermon  remains  amongst  his  works  under  the  title  of 
"  The  right  ivay  to  safety  after  Shijywreck.'' 

On  the  18th  of  June,  an  order  was  entered  on  the 
journals  of  the  House  of  Lords,  and  a  corresponding  one 
on  those  of  the  Commons,  the  15th  of  July. 

"  That  such  matters  as  may  seem  to  be  intrench ments 
on  the  honour,  worth,  and  integrity  of  Thomas  Earl  of 
Strafford,  the  Lord  Primate,  the  Lord  Chancellor  Bolton, 
and  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  Lowther,  whose  memory  this 
house  cannot  in  justice  suffer  to  be  sullied  with  the  least 
stain  of  evil  report,  be  totally  and  absolutely  expunged 
and  obliterated  from  the  journals  and  records  of  the 
house." 

In  this  parliament '' many  advantages  were  procured^ 
and  more  designed,  for  the  Church,  in  which  Archbishop 
Bramhall  was  very  industrious.  Several  of  the  bishops 
obtained  their  augmentations  through  his  intercession  ;  as 
likewise  the  inferior  clergy  the  forfeited  impropriate  tithes; 
and  the  whole  Church  all  the  advantageous  clauses  in  the 
acts  of  settlement  and  explanation,"  [although  she  did  not 
reap  the  benefit  of  them  to  the  full  extent  that  w^as  in- 
tended.] "  There  were  two  bills,  for  the  passing  of 
which  he  took  great  pains,  but  was  defeated  in  both :"  one 
was,  "  for  making  the  tithing-table  of  Ulster  the  rule  for 
the  whole  kingdom  :"  the  other,  "for  enabling  the  bishops 
to  make  leases  for  sixty  years."  About  this  time  he  had 
a  violent  sickness,  being  the  second  fit  of  a  palsy,  which 
was  very  near  putting  an  end  to  his  life  ;  but  he  recovered. 
"  Before  his  death,  he  was  intent  upon  a  royal  visitation, 
in-  order   to   the    correction   of   some    disorders   he   had 


BKAMHALL.  87 

o\)served,  and  the  better  settlement  of  ministers  upon 
their  cures,"  by  a  more  convenient  distribution  or  union 
of  parishes,  and  the  building  of  churches  :  but  he  could 
not  put  this  and  some  other  designs  he  had  formed  in 
execution.  A  little  before  his  death  he  visited  his  diocese, 
and  having  provided  for  the  repair  of  his  cathedral,  and 
other  affairs  suitable  to  his  pastoral  office,  he  returned  to 
Dublin  about  the  middle  of  May,  1663.  The  latter  end 
of  the  month  follo\ving,  he  was  seized  with  the  third  fit  of 
the  palsy,  which  quickly  put  an  end  to  his  life. 

We  may  conclude  this  article  by  a  few  sentences  from 
one  whom  it  is  always  a  pleasure  to  quote,  Jeremy  Taylor,- 
in  his  sermon  preachciJ  at  Bramhall's  funeral  he  tells  us  : 
"  At  his  coming  to  the  Primacy,  he  knew  h^  should 
first  espy  little  besides  the  ruins  of  discipline,  a  harvest  of 
thorns  and  heresies  prevailing  in  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
the  churches  possessed  by  wolves  and  intruders,  men's 
hearts  greatly  estranged  from  true  religion ;  and,  there- 
fore, he  set  himself  to  weed  the  fields  of  tlie  Church.  He 
treated  the  adversaries  sometimes  sweetly,  sometimes  he 
■confuted  them  learnedly,  sometimes  he  rebuked  them 
shai'ply.  He  visited  his  charges  diligently,  and  in  his 
own  person,  not  by  proxies  and  instrumental  deputations. 
He  designed  nothing  that  we  knew-  of,  but  the  redintegra- 
tion of  religion,  the  honour  of  God  and  the  King,  the 
restoring  of  collapsed  discipline,  and  the  renovation  of 
faith  and  the  service  of  God  in  the  churches.  And  still 
he   was  indefatigable  ;  and,  even   at  the  last  scene  of  his 

life,  intended  to  undertake  a  regal  visitation 

"  Upon  a  brisk  alarm  of  death,  which  God  sent  him 
the  last  Januaiy,  he  gave  thanks  that  God  had  permitted 
him  to  live  to  see  the  blessed  restoration  of  his  majesty 
and  the  Church  of  England,  confessed  his  faith  to  be  the 
same  as  ever,  gave  praises  to  God  that  he  was  bora  and 
bred  up  in  this  religion,  and  prayed  to  God,  and  hoped 
he  should  die  in  the  communion  of  this  Church,  w^hich 
he  declared  to  be  the  most  pure  and  Apostolical  Church 
in  the  whole  world 


88  BRAMHALL. 

"  To  sum  up  all,  he  was  a  wise  prelate,  a  learned  doctor, 
a  just  man,  a  true  friend,  a  great  benefactor  to  others,  a 
thankful  beneficiary  where  he  was  obliged  himself.  He 
was  a  faithful  servant  to  his  masters,  a  loyal  subject  to 
the  king,  a  zealous  assertor  of  his  religion,  against  Popery 
on  one  side  and  fanaticism  on  the  other.  The  practice  of 
his  religion  was  not  so  much  in  forms  and  exterior 
ministeries,  although  he  was  a  great  obsei^er  of  all  the 
public  rites  and  ministeries  of  the  Church,  as  it  was  in 
doing  good  to  others 

"  He  was  a  man  of  great  business  and  great  resort.  He 
divided  his  life  into  labour  and  his  book.  He  took  care 
of  his  churches,  when  he  w^as  alive,  and  even  after  his 
death,  having  left  five  hundred  pounds  for  the  repair  of 
his  cathedral  of  Armagh,  and  St.  Peter's  church  in 
Drogheda.  He  was  an  excellent  scholar,  and  rarely  well 
accomplished ;  first  instructed  to  great  excellency  by 
natural  parts,  and  then  consummated  by  study  and 
experience 

"  It  will  be  hard  to  find  his  equal  in  all  things.  For 
in  him  were  visible  the  great  lines  of  Hooker's  judicious- 
ness,   of  Jewel's  learning,    of  the   acuteness  of   Bishop 

Andrewes He  showed  his  equanimity  in  poverty, 

and  his  justice  in  riches :  he  was  useful  in  his  country, 

and  profitable  in  his  banishment He 

received  public  thanks  from  the  Convocation,  of  which 
he  was  president,  and  public  justification  from  the 
Parliament,  where  he  was  speaker ;  so  that,  although 
no  man  had  greater  enemies,  no  man  had  greater  jus- 
tifications." 

His  works  were  collected  and  reprinted  at  Dublin,  in 
one  volume,  folio,  in  1674-7.  A  beautiful  edition  has 
lately  formed  part  of  the  Anglo- Catholic  Library. — Life 
prefixed  to  Works  hy  Archbishop  Vesey.  Funeral  Seimon. 
by  Jeremy  Taylor.  Ware's  Coniment.  de  Prccsul.  Hibernice. 
Mant's  History  of  the  Church  in  Ireland.  Bramhall's 
Works. 


BRANDT.  ^f^ 


BEANDT,    GERAED. 


Gekird  Brandt  was  bom  at  Amsterdam  in  16'26.  He 
became  the  pastor  of  a  congregatioD  of  RemoDStrants,  or 
Arminians,  at  Nieukoop,  where  he  married  the  daughter 
of  Gaspard  Barloeus,  who  is  well  known  for  the  excellence 
of  his  Latin  poetry.  In  1667  he  settled  at  Amsterdam, 
and  died  there  in  1685.  His  works  are — 1.  A  short 
History  of  the  Reformation,  and  of  the  War  between  Spain 
and  the  Netherlands,  1658.  2.  A  History  of  the  Refor- 
mation in  the  Low  Countries,  4  vols,  4to.  This  has  been 
translated  into  English,  in  4  vols,  folio  ;  and  an  abridg- 
ment of  it  has  also  been  published  in  2  vols,  8vo.  3.  The 
History  of  Enkhuysen.  4.  The  Life  of  Admiral  de 
Ruyter,  folio.  5.  An  Historical  Diary,  with  Biographical 
Notices  of  Eminent  Men,  4to.  6.  Poemata,  2  vols,  Svo. 
7.  Historia  judicii  habiti  annis  1618  et  1619;  de  tribus 
captivis  Bameveldt,  Hogerbeets  et  Grotio,  4to. — Moreri. 


BRANDT,  GASPARD. 

Gaspard  Brandt,  eldest  son  of  the  preceding,  was  born 
in  1653,  at  Nieukoop,  and  educated  under  Limborch.  In 
1673  he  was  licensed  to  the  ministiy,  which  ofiQce  he 
discharged  at  several  places,  and  lastly  at  Amsterdam, 
where  he  died  in  1696.  He  published  some  religious 
pieces  in  German,  and  the  lives  of  Arminius  and 
Grotius  ;  the  last  were  re-published  by  Mosheim,  in 
1725,  Svo. — Moreri 

BRANDT,  GERARD. 

Gerard  Brandt,  second  son  of  Gerard,  and  brother  of 

the  preceding,  was  born  in  1657.     He  was  instructed  in 

philosophy  and  divinity  by  Limborch.     He  exercised  the 

ministry  at  Rotterdam,    and  died   there    in   1683.     He 

'  h2 


90  BRENTZ. 

translated  Hejlyn's  Quinqu articular  History  from  the 
English  into  German ;  besides  which  he  was  the  author 
of  a  History  of  Public  Events  in  Europe  ;  and  sixty-five 
Sermons. — Moreri. 


BRANDT,  JOHN. 

John  Brandt,  the  youngest  son  of  Gerard,  was  born  at 
Nieukoop,  in  1660.  He  was  successively  minister  at 
Hoorn,  the  Hague,  and  iVmsterdam,  where  he  died  in 
1708.  His  works  are— 1.  The  Life  of  St.  Paul,  4to. 
2.  A  Funeral  Oration  on  Mary,  Queen  of  England.  3.  A 
Treatise  against  Leydecker.  He  also  edited  the  "Clarorum 
virorum  Epistolae." — Moreri. 

BRAULIO. 

Beaulio  w^as  Bishop  of  Saragossa  in  the  7th  century, 
and  was  the  friend  of  Isidore,  Bishop  of  Seville,  to  whom 
he  addressed  two  letters.  He  made  an  encomium  upon 
Isidore,  containing  a  catalogue  of  his  works,  in  which  he 
informs  us  that  he  himself  completed  and  arranged  that 
father  s  etymological  treatise,  entitled  Origines.  He  also 
wrote  a  life  of  (Emilianus,  a  Spanish  hermit,  commonly 
called  St.  Milan.  The  life  of  St.  Leocadia  is  also  attributed 
to  him.  He  assisted  at  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  councils 
of  Toledo.  In  a  treatise  of  Isidore,  entitled,  De  Claris 
praesertim  Hispanise  Scriptoribus,  published  by  Scholt,  at 
Toledo,  in  1592,  there  are  some  pieces  by  Braulio.  His 
Epistles  and  Encomium  are  extant  in  Isidore's  works. 
He  died  in  the  year  646,  having  been  a  bishop  twenty 
years. — Dupin.    Isidores  Works.    Mahillon. 

BRENTZ,  OR  BRENTIUS. 

Brentz,  or  Brentius  was  born  at  Weil  in  Suabia,  in 
1499.     He  was  educated  at  the  school  and  university  of 


BREXTZ.  91 

Heidelberg.  His  application  was  unequalled.  He  was 
accustomed  to  rise  at  midnight  for  study,  and  this  custom 
had  become  so  confirmed,  that  in  after  life  he  could  never 
sleep  after  that  hour.  Martin  Luther  had  now  appeared 
as  an  author,  and  his  works  were  perused  with  juvenile 
enthusiasm  by  young  Brentz,  whose  joy  was  indescribably 
great  when  he  had  an  opportunity  of  hearing  him  preach 
at  Heidelberg.  One  of  Luther's  paradoxes  especially 
struck  the  youth.  It  was  this,  "that  man  is  not  justified 
in  the  sight  of  God  who  does  many  works ;  but  he  who 
without  having  done  any  works,  has  much  faith  in  Christ." 
He  visited  Luther,  talked  and  conferred  with  him,  and 
requested  an  explanation  of  what  he  did  not  understand. 
This  naturally  led  to  his  becoming  a  confirmed  Lutheran, 
After  Luther's  departure,  he  and  others  began  to  teach 
Lutheranism  in  Heidelberg.  Brentz,  though  a  very 
young  man,  undertook  to  expound  St.  Matthew's  Gospel, 
at  first  in  his  own  room,  and  afterwards,  when  that  apart- 
ment was  too  small,  in  the  Hall  of  Philosophy.  The 
theologians  were,  of  course,  ofiended  at  this  proceeding, 
as  he  acted  without  authority,  and  shewed  symptoms  of 
irritation  at  the  concourse  of  hearers  which  the  young  man 
drew  together.  The  heads  of  the  university  sought  to 
silence  him.  But  Brentz  took  orders,  and  then  transferred 
his  lecture  to  the  College  of  the  Canons  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
He  now  became  a  popular  preacher,  and  was  chosen  pastor 
at  Halle,  in  the  twenty-third  year  of  his  age.  We  find 
him  afterwards  attending  a  Protestant  conference,  for  the 
purpose  of  reconciling  the  contention  between  Luther  and 
Zuinglius,  respecting  the  real  presence,  the  latter  doctrine 
being  held  by  the  Protestants  generally.  In  1530,  he 
attended  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  and  took  a  share  in  the 
proceedings  of  that  assembly.  In  1534  he  was  invited  by 
Ulric,  prince  of  Wirtemberg,  to  undertake  the  direction  of 
the  university  of  Tubingen,  conjointly  with  Camerarius, 
and  to  introduce  the  reformed  religion.  In  1547,  while 
at  Halle,  he  was  obliged  to  conceal  himself  from  the 
imperial  forces,  in  consequence  of  a  threat  on  the  part  of 


92  BRETT. 

Charles  V.  that  he  would  destroy  the  city  if  Brentz  were 
not  given  up  to  him.  Letters  were  found  in  which  Brentz 
contrary  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion,  had 
exhorted  the  Protestant  princes  to  take  up  arms  against 
the  emperor.  Brentz,  however,  effected  his  escape  in 
disguise,  and  wandered  as  a  fugitive  from  place  to  place. 
His  great  solace  at  this  time  was  the  book  of  Psalms, 
which  he  said  afterwards  that  no  one  could  fully  compre- 
hend, except  under  circumstances  similar  to  his  own.  In 
1553,  Christopher,  Prince  of  Wirtemberg,  son  and  suc- 
cessor of  Ulric,  afforded  him  an  asylum  in  his  castle  at 
Stutgard.  Here,  at  the  prince's  request,  he  drew  up  the 
Confession  of  Wirtemberg ;  and  shortly  after,  on  the 
death  of  the  pastor  of  that  place,  Brentz  was  appointed  to 
succeed  him.  In  1557  he  attended  the  conferences  at 
Worms,  and  died  at  Stutgard,  Sept.  II,  1570.  His 
opinions  nearly  coincided  with  those  of  Luther ;  he  held 
the  ubiquity  of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  hence  he 
and  his  followers  have  been  denominated  Ubiquitarians. 
His  works  were  first  published  at  Tubingen,  1576 — 1590, 
in  8  vols,  folio,  and  at  Amsterdam,  in  1666. — Melchior 
Adam.    Fuller.    Milner.    D'AuUgny. 


BRETT,    THOMAS. 

Thomas  Brett  was  born  at  Bettishanger  in  Kent,  on 
the  3rd  of  September,  1667.  He  was  sent  to  the  grammar 
school  of  Wye,  in  that  county,  where  his  father  resided, 
whence  he  proceeded  to  Queen's  College,  Cambridge, 
where  he  took  his  first  degree,  and  then  removed  to 
Corpus  Christi,  January  17,  1689,  where  he  proceeded 
LL.  B.  on  St.  Barnabas'  day  following,  and  did  not 
at  that  time  hesitate  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  William  and  Mary  ;  his  father,  and  other  relations, 
who  were  accounted  whigs,  ha\ing  brought  him  up  in 
whig  principles.  He  was  ordained  deacon,  Dec.  21.  1690, 
when  he  undertook  the  cure  of  Folkstone  for  a  twelve- 


BRETT.  93 

month ;  after  which  he  came  to  London,  entered  into 
priests  orders,  and  was  chosen  lecturer  of  Ishngton 
Oct.  4,   169-^. 

Upon  his  fathers  death,  at  the  earnest  sohcitation  of 
his  mother,  he  left  Islington  with  some  reluctance,  and  in 
May,  1696,  took  upon  him  the  cure  of  Great-Chart,  where 
he  became  acquainted  with  the  family  of  Sir  Nicholas 
Toke,  whose  daughter  he  married.  In  the  following  year 
he  took  the  degree  of  LL.D.,  as  a  member  of  Queen's, 
and  soon  after  entered  upon  the  cure  of  Wye,  but  had  no 
benefice  of  his  own  before  April  1"2,  1703,  when,  upon  the 
death  of  his  uncle,  who  was  rector  of  Bettishanger,  he  was 
instituted  to  that  living.  Archbishop  Tenison  made  him 
an  offer  of  the  vicarage  of  Chislet,  and  soon  after  gave 
him  also  the  rectory  of  Rucking,  April  12,  1705.  But 
although  he  had  up  to  this  time  complied  with  the  oaths, 
he  began  to  have  his  scruples,  which  were  strengthened 
by  the  representations  and  reasonings  of  Bishop  Hickes, 
who  urged  upon  him  the  necessity  of  refraining  from  all 
communion  with  the  Church  established,  on  the  ground 
of  the  danger  and  sin  of  schism.  On  this  he  had  recourse 
to  Mr.  Dodwell's  tracts  on  that  subject,  whose  arguments 
not  satisfying  his  mind,  he  resolved  to  surrender  himself 
up  to  the  bishop,  and  he  was  accordingly  received  into  his 
communion,  July  1,  1715,  according  to  a  penitential  form 
prepared  especially  for  such  occasions.  The  year  after  he 
was  consecrated  a  bishop.  He  had  sacrificed  nobly  all  his 
worldly  interests  and  prospects  to  his  principles,  and 
whatever  may  be  thought  of  his  principles,  he  must  be 
honoured  for  the  consistency  of  his  conduct.  He  had  now 
no  living  to  support  him ;  no  Church  open  to  him,  but 
was  accustomed,  like  many  other  Nonjurors,  to  officiate 
privately  in  his  own  house.  His  literary  labours  were 
very  numerous,  and  all  of  them  were  distinguished  for 
great  ability  and  extensive  learning.  Brett  was  once  pre- 
sented at  the  assizes  for  holding  a  conventicle  in  his 
house :  but  an  Act  of  Indemnity  rescued  him  from  the 
penalties.     He  afterwards  spent  his  time  between  Fever- 


94  BRETT. 

sham  and  Canterbury,  in  which  places  he  had  congrega* 
tions.  Unquestionably  the  Nonjurors  made  a  wise  and 
judicious  choice  in  selecting  Brett  as  a  bishop.  The 
choice  was  made  probably  at  the  desire  of  Hickes,  though 
he  died  before  the  consecration. 

Bishop  Brett  soon  became  an  active  member  of  the 
Nonjuring  communion;  and  among  the  late  venerable 
Bishop  Jolly's  papers,  we  have  a  most  interesting  account 
of  the  correspondence  between  the  Nonjurors  and  the  Pa- 
triarchs of  the  Oriental  Church,  drawn  up  by  Brett  himself 
some  few  years  after  the  scheme  had  failed.  It  has  been 
published  by  Mr.  Lathbury  in  his  valuable  History  of  the 
Nonjurors.  The  scheme  alluded  to  was  first  thought  of 
in  1716,  when  Arsenius,  an  Archbishop  of  the  Eastern 
Church,  was  in  London  soliciting  assistance  for  his 
afflicted  brethren  in  Alexandria.  Campbell,  one  of  the 
Scottish  Bishops,  became  acquainted  with  the  Archbishop  : 
"  and,"  as  Skinner  says,  "  having  a  scheming  turn  for 
every  thing  which  he  thought  of  general  usefulness  to  the 
Church,  took  occasion  in  conversation  to  hint  something 
of  this  kind."  Campbell  mentioned  the  matter  to  his 
friends  at  a  meeting.  At  first  all  were  united :  but  the 
disputes  respecting  the  usages  having  arisen,  Spinkes, 
though  he  had  previously  translated  their  proposals 
into  Greek,  together  with  Hawes  and  Gandy,  declined 
to  proceed  any  further  in  the  business,  which  was  subse- 
quently carried  on  by  Collier,  Brett,  and  Griffin,  with  the 
Scottish  Bishops  Campbell  and  Gadderer. 

The  statement  of  Bishop  Brett  is  as  follows  : — "  In  the 
month  of  July,  1716,  the  Bishops  called  Nonjurors  meet- 
ing about  some  affairs  relating  to  their  little  Church, 
Mr.  Campbell  took  occasion  to  speak  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Thebais  then  in  London  ;  and  proposed  that  we  should 
endeavour  a  union  with  the  Greek  Church,  and  draw  up 
some  propositions  in  order  thereto,  and  deliver  them  to 
that  Archbishop,  with  whom  he  intimated,  as  if  he  had 
already  had  some  discourse  upon  that  subject.  I  was  then 
a  perfect  stranger  to  the  doctrines  and  forms  of  worship 


BRETT.  95 

of  that  Church,  but  as  I  wished  most  heartily  for  a  gene- 
ral union  of  all  Christians  in  one  communion,  1  was 
ready  to  have  joined  with  Mr.  Campbell  on  this  occasion. 
But  Mr.  Lawrence  being  in  the  room,  drew  me  aside,  and 
told  me,  that  the  Greeks  were  more  corrupt  and  more 
bigoted  than  the  Romanists,  and  therefore  vehemently 
pressed  me  not  to  be  concerned  in  the  affair :  but  Mr. 
Collier,  Mr.  Campbell,  Mr.  Spinkes  joined  in  it,  and  drew 
up  proposals,  which  Mr.  Spinkes  (as  Mr.  Campbell  in- 
formed me)  put  into  Greek,  and  they  went  together  and 
delivered  them  to  the  Archbishop  of  Thebais,  who  carried 
them  to  Moscovy,  and  engaged  the  Czar  in  the  affair, 
and  they  were  encouraged  to  write  to  his  majesty  on  that 
occasion,  who  heartily  espoused  the  matter,  and  sent  the 
proposals  by  James,  Proto-Cyncellus  to  the  Patriarch 
of  Alexandria,  to  be  communicated  to  the  four  Eastern 
Patriarchs.  Before  the  return  of  the  Patriarchs'  answer  to 
the  proposals,  a  breach  of  communion  happened  among 
the  Nonjurors  here,  Mr.  Hawes,  Mr.  Spinkes,  and  Mr. 
Gandy  on  the  one  side,  and  Mr.  Collier,  Mr.  Campbell, 
Mr.  Gadderer,  and  myself  on  the  other.  So  that  when 
the  Patriarchs'  answer  came  to  London,  in  17^2,  Mr. 
Spinkes  refused  to  be  any  further  concerned  in  the 
affair,  and  Mr.  Gadderer  and  I  joined  in  it.  After  Mr. 
Gadderer  went  to  Scotland,  Mr.  Griffin,  being  consulted, 
joined  with  us.  The  rest  of  the  story  relating  to  this 
matter  may  be  gathered  from  the  letters  and  the  sub- 
scriptions to  them.  Mr.  Collier  subscribes  Jeremias, 
Mr.  Campbell  Archibaldus,  Mr.  Gadderer  Jacobus,  and  I, 
Thomas, 

Sic   Sub.     Thomas  Brett." 
March  30th,  1728. 

"A  Proposal  for  a  concordate  between  the  orthodox  and 
Catholic  remnant  of  the  British  Churches,  and  the  Catho- 
lic and  Apostolic  Oriental  Church. 

"  1.  That  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  be  acknowledged  as 
the    true  mother  Church   and  principal   of  ecclesiastical 


96  BRETT. 

unity,  whence  all  the  other  Churches  have  heen  derived, 
and  to  which,  therefore,  they  owe  a  peculiar  regard. 

"2.  That  a  principality  of  Order  be  in  consequence 
hereof  allowed  to  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  above  all  other 
Christian  Bishops. 

"  3.  That  the  Churches  of  Antioch,  Alexandria,  and 
Constantinople,  with  the  Bishops  thereof,  his  colleagues, 
be  recognized  as  to  all  their  ancient  canonical  rites,  privi- 
leges, and  pre-eminences. 

"  4.  That  to  the  Bishop  and  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople in  particular  an  equality  of  honour  with  that  of  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  be  given,  and  that  the  very  same  powers 
and  privileges  be  acknowledged  to  reside  in  them  both 
alike. 

"  5.  That  the  Catholic  remnant  of  the  British 
Churches,  acknowledging  that  they  first  received  their 
Christianity  from  such  as  came  forth  from  the  Church  of 
Jerusalem,  before  they  were  subject  to  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  and  that  Church,  and  professing  the  same  holy 
Catholic  faith,  delivered  by  the  Apostles,  and  explained  in 
the  councils  of  Nice,  and  Constantinople,  be  reciprocally 
acknowledged  as  part  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  com- 
munion with  the  Apostles,  with  the  holy  fathers  of  these 
councils,  and  with  their  successors. 

"  6.  That  the  said  Catholic  remnant  shall  thereupon 
oblige  themselves  to  revive  what  they  long  professed  to 
wish  for,  the  ancient  godly  discipline  of  the  Church,  and 
which  they  have  already  actually  began  to  restore. 

"7.  That  in  order  still  to  a  nearer  union,  there  be  as 
near  a  conformity  in  worship  established  as  is  consistent 
with  the  different  circumstances  and  customs  of  nations, 
and  with  the  rites  of  particular  Churches,  in  that  case 
allowed  of. 

"■  8.  That  the  most  ancient  English  Liturgy,  as  more 
near  approaching  the  manner  of  the  Oriental  Church,  be 
in  the  first  place  restored,  with  such  proper  additions  and 
alterations,  as  may  be  agreed  on  to  render  it  still  more 
conformable  both  to  that  and  the  primitive  standard. 


BRETT.  97 

•'9.  That  several  of  the  Homilies  of  St.  Chrysostom, 
and  other  approved  Fathers  of  the  said  Oriental  Church 
be  forthwith  translated  into  English  and  read  in  our 
holy  assemblies. 

"10.  That  in  the  public  worship,  when  prayer  is  made  for 
the  Catholic  Church,  there  be  an  express  commemoration 
made  of  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  that,  especially  in 
the  Communion  Service,  prayer  be  offered  up  for  him  and 
the  other  Patriarchs,  with  all  the  Bishops  of  the  same 
communion,  and  for  the  deliverance  and  restoration  of  the 
whole  Oriental  Church. 

"11.  That  the  faithful  and  orthodox  remnant  of  the 
Britannic  Church  is  to  be  also,  by  the  said  Oriental  Church, 
on  proper  occasions,  or  on  certain  days  publicly  commemo- 
rated and  prayed  for. 

"12.  That  there  be  letters  communicatory  settled  betwixt 
one  and  the  other,  and  the  acts  and  deeds  on  both  sides 
be  mutually  confirmed. 

"  Wherefore  in  order  to  establish  such  a  concordate, 
until  that  a  firm  and  perfect  union  can  be  fixed,  the  suf- 
fering Catholic  Bishops  of  the  old  constitution  of  Great 
Britain  have  thought  fit  hereby  to  declare,  wherein  they 
agree  and  wherein  they  cannot  come  to  a  perfect  agree- 
ment. 

"  ] .  They  agree  in  the  twelve  Articles  of  the  Creed  as 
delivered  in  the  first  and  second  General  Councils,  which 
they  take  to  be  sufiGlcient  for  faith,  and  thereupon  cannot 
agree  with  the  Latin  Church,  which  hath  superadded 
thereto  twelve  other  articles  of  faith. 

"  2.  They  agree  in  beheving  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be  con- 
substantial  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  according  to  the 
orthodox  confession  of  the  Oriental  Church;  and  moreover, 
that  the  Father  is  properly  the  fountain  and  original 
whence  the  Holy  Ghost  proceedeth  ;  and  that  it  is  altoge- 
ther sufficient  for  salvation  to  believe  herein  what  Christ 
Himself  hath  taught. 

"  3.  They  agree  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is   sent  forth  by 

VOL.  Til.  I 


98  BRETT. 

the  Son  from  the  Father,  and  when  they  say  in  any  of 
their  confessions,  that  He  is  sent  forth  or  proceedeth  from 
the  Son,  they  mean  no  more  than  what  is,  and  always 
has  been  confessed  by  the  Oriental  Church,  i.  e.  from  the 
Father  by  the  Son. 

"4.  They  agree,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  did  truly  speak 
by  the  prophets  and  apostles,  and  is  the  genuine  author 
of  all  the  Scriptures. 

"5.  They  agree,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  assisteth  the 
Church  in  judging  rightly  concerning  matters  of  faith, 
and  that  both  general  and  particular  orthodox  councils, 
convened  after  the  example  of  the  first  council  of  Jeru- 
salem, may  reasonably  expect  that  assistance  in  their 
resolutions. 

"6.  They  agree,  in  the  number  and  nature  of  the 
charismata  of  the  Spirit. 

"  7.  They  agree,  that  there  is  no  other  foundation  of 
the  Church  but  Christ  alone,  and  that  the  prophets  and 
apostles  are  no  otherwise  to  be  called  so,  but  in  a  less 
proper  and  secondary  sense  respectively  only. 

"  8.  They  agree  that  Christ  alone  is  the  head  of  the 
Church,  which  title  ought  not  therefore  to  be  assumed  by 
any  one,  much  less  by  any  secular  power,  how  great 
soever,  and  that  Bishops  under  Him  have  a  vicarious  head- 
ship, as  His  proper  representatives  and  vicegerents,  being 
thence  subject  in  spirituals  to  no  temporal  power  on  earth  : 
and  in  consequence  hereof  they  hope  the  patriarchs  of  the 
Oriental  Church  will  be  pleased,  by  an  express  article,  to 
signify,  that  they  own  the  independency  of  the  Church  in 
spirituals  upon  all  lay  powers,  and  consequently  declare 
against  all  lay  deprivations. 

"  9.  They  agree,  that  every  Christian  ought  to  be  subject 
to  the  Church,  and  that  the  Church  is  by  Christ  suffi- 
ciently instructed  and  authorized  to  examine  the  writings 
and  censure  the  persons  of  her  subjects  or  ministers, 
though  never  so  great. 

/'  10.  They  agree,   that  the  Sacrament  of  the  body  and 


BRETT.  m 

blood  of  Christ  ought  to  be  administered  to  the  failhfvil  in 
both  kinds,  and  that  the  Latin  Church  have  transgressed 
the  Institution  of  Christ  by  restraining  from  the  laity  one 
kind. 

"11.  They  agree,  that  Baptism  and  this  are  of  general 
necessity  to  salvation,  for  all  the  faithful,  and  that  the 
other  holy  mysteries  instituted  by  Christ,  or  appointed  by 
His  Apostles,  which  are  not  so  generally  necessary  unto 
all,  ought  nevertheless  to  be  received  and  celebrated  with 
due  reverence,  according  to  Catholic  and  immemorial 
practice. 

"12.  They  agree,  that  there  is  no  proper  purgatorial 
fire  in  the  future  state,  for  the  purgation  of  souls,  nor 
consequently  any  redemption  of  souls  out  of  the  fire  of 
purgatory  by  the  suffrages  of  the  living  :  but  that  notwith- 
standing none  do  immediately  ascend  into  the  heaven  of 
heavens,  but  do  remain  until  the  resurrection  in  certain 
inferior  mansions,  appropriated  to  them,  waiting  in  hope 
for  the  revelation  of  that  day,  and  joining  in  the  prayers 
and  praises  of  the  militant  Church  upon  earth,  offered  up 
in  faith." 

"As  to  the  points  wherein  they  cannot,  at  present,  per- 
fectly agree,  they  declare. 

"  1.  They  have  a  great  reverence  for  the  canons  of 
ancient  general  councils,  yet  they  allow  them  not  the  same 
authority  as  is  due  to  the  sacred  text,  and  think,  they 
may  be  dispensed  with  by  the  governors  of  the  Church, 
where  charity  or  necessity  require. 

"  2.  Though  they  call  the  mother  of  our  Lord  blessed, 
and  magnify  the  grace  of  God,  which  so  highly  exalted 
her,  yet  are  they  afraid  of  giving  the  glory  of  God  to 
a  creature,  or  to  run  into  any  extreme  by  blessing  and 
magnifying  her,  and  do  hence  rather  choose  to  bless  and 
magnify  God,  for  the  high  grace  and  honour  conferred 
upon  her,  and  for  the  benefits  which  we  receive  by  that 
means. 

"3.  Though  they  believe  that  both  saints  and  angels 
have  joy  in  the  conversion  of  one  sinner,   and  in  the  pro- 


100  BRETT. 

gress  of  a  Christian,  and  do  unite  with  us  in  our  prayers 
and  thanksgivings,  when  rightly  offered  to  God  in  the 
communion  of  the  Church  :  yet  are  they  jealous  of  detract- 
ing from  the  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  therefore  can- 
not use  a  direct  invocation  to  any  of  them,  the  ever  blessed 
Virgin  herself  not  excepted,  w^hile  we  desire  nevertheless 
to  join  with  them  in  spirit,  and  to  communicate  with  them 
in  perfect  charity. 

"  4.  Though  they  believe  a  perfect  mystery  in  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  through  the  invocation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  upon 
the  elements,  whereby  the  faithful  do  verily  and  indeed 
receive  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  they  believe  it  yet  to 
be  after  a  manner,  w^hich  flesh  and  blood  cannot  conceive ; 
and  seeing  no  sufficient  ground  from  Scripture  or  tradi- 
tion to  determine  the  manner  of  it,  are  for  leaving  it 
indefinite  and  undetermined :  so  that  every  one  may 
freely,  according  to  Christ's  own  institution  and  meaning, 
receive  the  same  in  faith,  and  also  worship  Christ  in 
spirit,  as  verily  and  indeed  present,  without  being  obliged 
to  worship  the  Sacred  symbols  of  his  presence. 

"  5.  Though  they  honour  the  memory  of  all  the  faithful 
witnesses  of  Christ,  and  count  it  not  unlawful  in  itself  to 
assist  the  imagination  by  pictures  and  representations  of 
them  and  their  glorious  acts  and  sufferings,  yet  they  are 
afraid  of  giving  thereby,  on  one  hand,  scandal  to  the  Jews 
and  Mahometans,  or  on  the  other,  to  many  well  meaning 
Christians:  and  they  are  moreover  apprehensive  that, 
though  the  wise  may  be  safe  from  receiving  any  damage, 
by  a  wrong  application,  yet  the  vulgar  may  come  thereby 
to  be  ensnared,  and  be  carried  to  symbolize  too  much  with 
the  custom  of  idolaters,  without  designing  it :  to  prevent 
which  they  therefore  propose,  that  the  9th  Article  of  the 
second  Council  of  Nice,  concerning  the  worship  of  Images, 
be  so  explained  by  the  wisdom  of  the  Bishops  and 
Patriarchs  of  the  Oriental  Church,  as  to  make  it  inoffen- 
sive, and  to  remove  the  scandal,  which  may  be  occasioned 
by,  a  direct  application  to  them. 

"  If  a  concordate  can  be  agreed  on  with  some  limita- 


BRETT.  inl 

tions  and  iudulgences  on  both  sides,  then  it  is  proposed 
that  a  Church,  to  be  called  the  Concordia,  be  built  in  or 
about  London,  which  may  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  and  in  which,  at  certain  times 
to  be  agreed  on,  there  shall  be  the  Enghsh  service  of  the 
united  British  Catholics  perlbrmed  according  as  the  same 
shall  be  approved  or  licensed  by  that  Patriarch,  or  by  the 
representatives  of  the  Oriental  Church.  And  that  on  the 
other  side,  if  it  should  please  God  to  restore  the  suffering 
Church  of  this  island  and  her  Bishops  to  her  and  their 
just  rights,  they  promise  to  use  their  endeavours,  that  leave 
be  granted  to  a  Greek  bishop  here  for  the  time  residing, 
or  to  such  as  shall  be  deputed  by  him,  to  celebrate,  upon 
certain  days,  divine  service  in  the  cathedral  church  of  St. 
Paul  according  to  the  Greek  rites.  But  if  one  common 
Liturgy  could  be  on  both  sides  agreed  on,  which  should 
be  unexceptionable,  being  compiled  out  of  the  ancient 
Greek  Liturgies,  some  passages  and  rites  only  omitted, 
which  are  not  of  the  substance,  and  which  may  give 
offence  to  one  side,  it  is  thought  that  nothing  can  more 
conduce  to  the  establishing  a  union  and  communion  be- 
tween both  parties  on  catholic  terms,  would  but  the 
Patriarchs  of  the  Oriental  Church  graciously  condescend, 
that  the  same  common  Liturgy  should  be  used  in  Great 
Britain,  both  by  the  Greeks  themselves  here  residing,  and 
by  the  united  British  Catholics. 

"  None  to  be  excluded  from  entering  into  this  con- 
cordate  who  are  willing,  and  all  endeavours  to  be  used 
on  both  sides  to  heal  the  breaches  of  Christendom,  and 
to  promote  and  propagate  Christian  unanimity  and 
peace. 

London. 
August  18th,  1716." 

In  the  October  following  a  letter  was  addressed  to  the 
Czar  of  ^Muscovy  relating  to  the  preceding  proposal  which, 
his  majesty,  it  seems,  encouraged. 

The  answer  of  the  Eastern  Patriarchs  to  the  proposals 
I  2 


102  BRETT. 

of  the  Nonjurors  is  dated  from  St.  Petersburg,  August  21, 
1721.  It  is  entitled  "  The  Answer  from  the  Orthodox  of 
the  East  to  the  proposals  sent  from  Britain  for  a  union 
and  agreement  with  the  Oriental  Church." 

In  this  document  the  Patriarchs  refuse  to  make  the 
desired  concessions,  giving  their  reasons  at  great  length. 
To  the  first  five  proposals  they  state,  that  they  shall  give 
one  answer,  since  they  all  relate  to  one  point,  namely, 
the  order  of  the  five  patriarchal  thrones.  "  They  who 
call  themselves  the  remnant  of  primitive  orthodoxy  in 
Britain,  would  (if  this  be  their  meaning,  which  will  be 
shewn  to  be  otherwise  hereafter)  have  them  dispossessed 
of  their  situation  given  them  by  orthodox  princes,  and 
confirmed  by  divine  and  holy  synods,  and  be  settled  in  a 
new  and  different  order :  so  that  neither  the  Pioman  nor 
Constantinopolitan  throne  should  any  longer  have  the 
preference,  but  that  of  Jerusalem.  But  somebody  may 
thus  bespeak  them,  if  gentlemen,  the  subject  of  your 
union  with  the  orthodox  Oriental  Church  be  matter  of 
doctrine  and  holy  faith,  to  what  purpose  should  the  order 
of  the  patriarchal  thrones  be  changed,  which  can  neither 
tVie  one  way  nor  the  other,  be  any  advantage  or  detriment 
to  religion  ?  It  would  rather  create  divisions  than  con- 
ciliate an  union,  for  it  has  the  face  of  an  innovation; 
whereas  our  Oriental  Church,  the  immaculate  Bride  of 
the  Lord,  has  never  at  any  time  admitted  any  novelty, 
nor  will  at  all  allow  of  any.  And  why  should  they  have 
the  preference  given  to  the  throne  of  Jerusalem?  Be- 
cause, say  they,  from  thence  came  out  the  evangelical 
law  of  grace  and  truth,  according  to  that  prophesy,  *  but 
out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law,  and  the  word  of  the 
Lord  from  Jerusalem.'  Now  they  would  by  these  words 
seem  wiser  and  more  provident,  than  those  who  place 
the  thrones  in  this  order,  as  if  they  had  acted  rashly  and 
unadvisedly  in  making  such  an  appointment,  which  God 
forbid.  For  the  authors  and  legislators  of  this  order  were 
divine  men,  of  extensive  knowledge   and  judgment,  and 


BRETT.  103 

had  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord :  nor  can  we  pretend  to  be 
better  and  more  sagacious  than  they,  or  to  overturn,  or  in 
the  least  disorder  their  wise  settlements,  lest  we  be  found 
to  fight  against  the  saints  and  against  God." — 

They  afterwards  say  : 

"  Some  time  since,  the  Pope  of  Rome,  being  deceived 
by  the  malice  of  the  de\dl,  and  falling  into  strange  novel 
doctrines,  revolted  from  the  unity  of  the  holy  Church, 
and  was  cut  off :  and  it  is  now  like  a  shattered  rag  of  a  sail 
of  the  spiritual  vessel  of  the  Church,  which  formerly  con- 
sisted and  was  made  up  of  five  parts,  four  of  which  con- 
tinue in  the  same  state  of  unity  and  agreement :  and  by 
these  we  easily  and  calmly  sail  through  the  ocean  of  this 
life,  and  \vithout  difficulty  pass  over  the  waves  of  heresy, 
till  we  arrive  within  the  haven  of  salvation.  But  he  who 
is  the  fifth  part,  being  separated  from  the  entire  sail,  and 
remaining  by  himself  in  a  small  piece  of  the  torn  sheet,  is 
unable  to  perform  his  voyage,  and  therefore  we  behold 
him  at  a  distance  tossed  with  constant  waves  and  tempest 
till  he  return  to  our  Catholic,  Apostolic,  Oriental,  immacu- 
late faith,  and  be  reinstated  in  the  sail  from  whence  he 
was  broken  off:  for  this  will  make  him  secure,  and  able  to 
weather  the  spiritual  storms  and  tempests  that  beset  him. 
Thus  therefore  the  holy  Church  of  Christ  with  us  subsists 
on  four  pillars,  namely,  the  four  Patriarchs,  and  continues 
firm  and  immoveable.  The  first  in  order  is  the  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople  The  second  the  Pope  of  Alexandria. 
The  third  of  Antioch.     The  fourth  of  Jerusalem." 

They  grant  however : 

"  If  those  who  are  called  the  remains  of  the  primitive 
orthodoxy,  out  of  any  particular  affection  of  piety  to  the 
holy  and  Apostolical  throne  of  Jerusalem,  would  prefer 
and  esteem  it  above  the  rest,  we  have  no  objection  to  it : 
for  we  ourselves,  though  for  order's  sake  we  number  it  in 
the  4th  place,  yet  pay  it  the  utmost  reverence  and  respect, 
and  honour  it  as  the  place  where  the  light  of  religion  and 
salvation  arose,  where  the  redemption  of  man  and  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  shone  out  into  all  the  world,  and 


104  BRETT. 

because  there  our  Lord  suffered  for  us,  and  there  shed  His 
precious  blood.  And  if  this  be  the  desire  of  the  pious 
remnant  in  Britain,  we  grant  and  allow  it,  only  let  them 
not  despise  the  ancient  order,  nor  accuse  it  of  error,  nor 
reject  it." 

They  add  further  on  this  point. 

"  But  it  is  necessary  also  that  he  should,  either  im- 
mediately or  by  deputation,  consecrate  the  British  Bishops 
by  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  no  other  Patriarch  but 
that  of  Jerusalem  daring  to  ordain  in  Britain,  or  to  enter 
upon  his  jurisdiction." 

To  the  6th  proposal  respecting  the  ancient  discipline 
they  remark,  "  that  they  are  ignorant  of  what  is  intended. 
If  it  be  to  make  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  supreme  over 
all,  they  cannot  consent,  as  it  would  subvert  the  ancient 
order  :  but  if  they  only  wish  him  to  be  primus  in  Britain, 
they  consent.  If  the  things  to  be  revived  were  such  as 
needed  a  synodical  examination,  they  promise  to  submit 
them  '  to  a  council  of  the  universal  Church.'  " 

To  the  7th  proposal  they  observe,  that  it  is  obscure,  but 
they  promise,  that  all  such  things  shall  be  settled,  if  the 
union  should  be  accomplished. 

To  the  8th  proposal  respecting  King  Edward's  First 
Liturgy,  they  say :  *'  The  Oriental  orthodox  Church 
acknowledges  but  one  Liturgy,  the  same  which  was  de- 
livered down  by  the  Apostles,  but  written  by  the  first 
Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  James  the  brother  of  God,  and  after- 
wards abbreviated  upon  account  of  its  length  by  the  great 
Father,  Basil,  and  afterwards  again  epitomized  by  John, 
the  golden-tongued  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  which 
from  the  times  of  Basil  and  Chrysostom,  until  now,  the 
Oriental  orthodox  Church  receives  and  uses  every  where, 
and  by  them  administers  the  unbloody  sacrifice  in  every 
Church  of  the  orthodox.  It  is  proper,  therefore,  that 
those,  who  are  called  the  remnant  of  primitive  piety, 
should,  when  they  are  united  to  us,  make  use  of  those, 
that  in  this  point  also  there  be  no  discord  between  us,  but 
th'^t  they  as  well   as  we  should  on  proper  days  officiate  by 


BRETT.  105 

the  Liturgy  of  St.  Basil,  and  daily  by  that  of  St.  Chrysos- 
tom.  x\s  for  the  English  Liturgy  we  are  unacquainted 
vrith.  it,  having  never  either  seen  or  read  it,  but  we  have 
suspicion  of  it,  because  many  and  various  heresies  and 
schisms  and  sects  have  arisen  up  in  those  parts,  lest  the 
heretics  should  have  introduced  into  it  any  corruption  or 
deviation  from  the  right  path.  Upon  this  account  it  is 
necessary  that  we  should  both  see  and  read  it,  and  then 
either  approve  it  as  right,  or  reject  it  as  disagreeable  to 
our  unspotted  faith.  When,  therefore,  we  have  considered 
it,  if  it  needs  correction,  we  will  correct  it,  and  if  possible 
will  give  it  the  sanction  of  a  genuine  form.  But  what 
occasion  have  those  for  any  other  Liturgy,  who  have  the 
true  and  sincere  one  of  the  divine  Father  Chrysostom, 
which  is  made  use  of  in  all  the  Oriental  Churches  of  the 
Orthodox  Greeks,  Russians,  Iberians,  and  Arabians,  and 
many  other  orthodox  nations?  For  if  they  who  are  called 
the  remnant  will  receive  this,  they  will  thereby  be  more 
intimately  united,  and  more  nearly  related  to  us  ;  for 
the  people  do  not  so  much  look  upon  the  heart  as  the 
appearance." 

To  the  9th  Proposal,  respecting  the  Homilies  of 
Chrysostom,  they  assent,  and  commend  it.  To  the  10th 
Proposal  also  they  assent,  as  well  as  to  the  llth,  which 
they  regard  as  of  the  same  character.  With  respect  to 
the  IQth  Proposal,  they  promise  to  transmit  the  decrees 
of  their  canons,  and  to  receive  the  public  and  synodical 
determinations  from  Britain,  and  to  take  them  into  their 
consideration. 

The  Patriarchs  then  proceed  to  the  points,  in  which  the 
Nonjurors  express  their  agreement  with  the  Eastern 
Church.  To  the  first  four,  a  general  agreement  is  ex- 
pressed, only,  with  regard  to  the  fourth,  they  wish  them 
to  add,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  also  "  spake  by  the  Holy 
Synods  and  Di^dne  Fathers,  and  then  they  will  be  in  the 
right,  and  not  far  from  the  truth."  To  the  rest  of  the 
propositions  also  a  general  agreement  is  expressed ;  only 
they  state  their  belief  in  Seven  Sacraments,  though  two 


100  BRETT. 

only  "  exceed  in  necessity,  and  are  such  as  no  one  can  be 
saved  without  them."  On  the  question  of  Purgatorial 
fire,  they  remark :  "  As  for  Purgatorial  fire,  invented  by 
the  Papists  to  command  the  purse  of  the  ignorant,  we  will 
by  no  means  hear  of  it.  For  it  is  a  fiction  and  a  doting 
fable  invented  for  lucre,  and  to  deceive  the  simple,  and, 
in  a  word,  has  no  existence  but  in  the  imagination.  There 
is  no  appearance  or  mention  of  it  in  the  Holy  Scriptures 
or  Fathers,  whatsoever  the  authors  or  abettors  of  it  may 
clamour  to  the  contrary."  They  contend,  however,  for 
Prayers  for  Saints  departed. 

In  the  next  place,  the  Patriarchs  and  Bishops  proceed 
to  the  points  of  disagreement,  as  expressed  by  the  Non- 
jurors, remarking  that  they  constitute  the  greatest 
difficulty.  "  But,  say  they,  this  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at,  for  being  born  and  educated  in  the  principles  of  the 
Lutheran  Calvinists,  and  possessed  with  their  prejudices, 
they  tenaciously  adhere  to  them,  like  ivy  to  a  tree,  and  are 
hardly  drawn  off."  They  answer  the  points  in  the  order 
in  which  they  were  placed  by  the  Nonjurors. 

To  the  First  they  say,  that  the  proposition  cannot  be 
received,  for  they  cannot  allow  the  decrees  of  Synods  to  be 
despised.  To  the  Second  respecting  the  Virgin  Mary, 
they  say,  "Here  we  may  fairly  cry  out  with  David,  '  They 
were  in  great  fear  where  no  fear  was  :'  "  and  then  they 
proceed  to  shew,  that  they  do  not  give  her  divine  honours. 
In  replying  to  the  Third  point,  they  contend  that  the 
saints  may  be  invocated  and  addressed  as  helpers.  The 
Fourth  proposition  relative  to  the  Eucharist  is  termed 
blasphemous,  and  the  Patriarchs  express  their  belief  in 
Transubstantiation.  To  the  Fifth  point,  respecting 
Images,  they  state,  that  to  honour  the  saints  by  pictures 
is  an  ancient  piece  of  devotion,  which  they  daily  practice. 
They  argue  at  some  length  that  the  honour  paid  to  them 
is  only  relative.  The  proposal,  at  the  end  of  the  points 
of  disagreement,  respecting  a  church  in  or  near  London,  is 
approved  of  and  accepted :  and  also  that  the  Eastern 
Bishops,  or  those  appointed  by  the  Patriarch  Alexandria, 


BRETT.  107 

should,  in  the  event  of  a  change  in  the  government, 
perform  divine  service  in  St.  Paul's  in  Greek  and  Eng- 
lish. They  then  recommend  the  translation  of  the  Greek 
Liturgy  for  general  use. 

At  the  close  of  the  answers,  it  is  added : 

"  The  answers  here  transcribed  to  the  proposals  sent 
from  Britain,  were  drawn  up  by  a  sjnodical  judgment  and 
determination  of  the  Eastern  Church,  after  the  most 
mature  deliberation,  of  the  Lord  Jeremias,  the  most  holy 
oecumenical  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  the  new  Rome, 
and  the  blessed  and  most  holy  Patriarchs,  the  Lord 
Samuel  of  Alexandria,  and  the  Lord  Chrysanthus  of  Jeni- 
salem,  with  the  holy  metropolitans,  and  the  holy  Clergy  of 
the  great  Church  of  Christ  in  Constantinople,  in  council 
assembled,  in  the  year  1718,  in  the  month  of  April,  day 
the  12th." 

Then  follows  a  synodical  answer  to  a  question,  respect- 
ing the  sentiments  of  the  Greek  Church,  sent  into  Britain 
in  the  year  1672.  The  same  decisions  are  expressed  as 
in  the  preceding  answers.  It  was  signed  by  thirty-seven 
Patriarchs,  Archbishops  and  Bishops.  Another  Synodical 
Decree  is  also  given,  on  the  same  points,  bearing  the  date 
1691,  and  subscribed  by  several  Patriarchs  and  Bishops. 

The  following  is  the  reply  of  the  Nonjurors  to  the  com- 
munication from  the  Patriarchs, 

"  Copy  of  a   Reply    to    the    Answers    of   the    Orthodox 
of  the  East. 

"  Before  the  Catholic  remainder  of  the  British  Church 
proceed  to  reply  to  the  answers  of  the  four  most  Reverend 
Patriarchs  of  the  Catholic  Oriental  Church,  they  think 
themselves  obliged  to  return  their  most  hearty  thanks  to 
their  Patriarchal  Lordships  for  the  trouble  they  have  given 
themselves,  in  drawing  up  an  answer  to  our  proposals, 
and  transmitting  it  to  so  distant  a  country  as  Great 
Britain :  hoping  that  this  charitable  disposition  and 
generous  ardour  their  Patriarchal  Lordships  express  for 


108  BRETT. 

preserving  an  harmony  between  us,  and  enlarging  the 
union  of  Christendom,  may  be  carried  on  to  a  happy 
conclusion;  and  as  the  CathoHc  remnant  of  Britain  will 
omit  nothing,  in  order  to  so  desirable  an  issue,  but  wil- 
lingly stretch  to  the  utmost  of  their  power  :  so  ha\dng  the 
satisfaction  to  understand,  that  their  Patriarchal  Lord- 
ships refer  the  difference  of  sentiments  between  us  to  the 
decision  of  the  Scriptures  and  primitive  Church,  they 
have  no  uncomfortable  prospect  of  a  coalition.  For  since 
the  determining  rule  is  equally  received  by  the  Oriental 
Churches  and  the  Catholic  remainder  in  Britain ;  since 
the  inspired  writings  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  as 
interpreted  by  the  .primitive  Fathers,  are  the  common 
standard  of  faith  and  worship  to  both,  we  do  not  despair, 
but  by  the  blessing  of  God,  when  the  case  shall  be  further 
examined  by  the  Catholic  Oriental  Church,  such  allow- 
ances an^  concessions  may  be  made,  as  may  dispose  both 
parties  to  unite  in  communion  with  each  other.  And  now, 
after  this  short  mention  of  our  wishes  and  regard,  we  shall 
proceed  to  sjoeak  of  the  answer  their  Patriarchal  Lord- 
ships have  done  us  the  honour  to  send  us. 

As  to  the  Articles  agreed  on  between  us,  they  shall 
be  passed  over  unmentioned  except  as  they  stand  in 
number. 

1,  2,  3,  4,  5.  To  the  answers  to  the  first  five  propositions 
we  have  nothing  to  except,  only  we  conceive,  that  the 
British  Bishops  may  remain  independent  of  all  the 
Patriarchs. 

6.  Under  this  Article  we  never  intended  to  prescribe  to 
the  wisdom,  or  question  the  learning  of  the  Catholic 
Oriental  Church,  our  meaning  by  the  word  vai^siix,  relating 
only  to  points  of  discipline. 

7.  The  answer  of  their  Patriarchal  Lordships  is  here 
agreed  to. 

8.  It  is  likewise  agreed,  that  the  Liturgy  by  which  we 
now  oflQciate  shall  be  translated  into  Greek,  and  trans- 
mitted to  their  Patriarchal  Lordships  to  be  inspected  by 
them. 


BRETT.  lOD 

?),  10,  11,  IQ.  The  answer  is  agreed  to.  With  respect 
to  the  l'2th,  we  believe  the  prayers  of  the  living,  together 
with  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice,  are  serviceable  to  the  dead, 
for  the  improvement  of  their  happiness  during  the  interval 
between  death  and  the  resurrection,  but  then  we  declare 
no  further  upon  this  Article. 

As  to  the  last  five  Articles,  in  which  there  still  continue 
some  differences  to  be  adjusted,  we  desire  to  observe  in 
general,  that  what  conjectures  soever  the  Catholic  Oriental 
Church  might  have  to  suspect  us  of  Luthero-Calvinism, 
we  openly  declare,  that  none  of  the  distinguishing  princi- 
ples of  either  Df  those  sects  can  fairly  be  charged  upon  us, 
and  we  further  believe,  that  upon  perusal  of  our  reply 
they  v»ill  most  readily  acquit  us  of  any  such  imputation. 

To  come  now  to  particulars. 

I.  Our  reply  to  the  answer  to  the  first  Proposition, 
relating  to  the  reception  of  the  seven  general  Councils  as 
of  equal  authority  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  rnvt  be  made 
with  somewhat  an  abatement  of  regard.  We  willingly 
declare,  we  receive  the  faith  decreed  in  the  first  six  general 
Councils,  as  being  agreeable  to  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
though  our  sentiments  cannot  advance  so  far  as  to  believe 
the  Fathers  of  those  Councils  assisted  with  an  equal 
degree  of  inspiration  with  the  Prophets,  Evangelists,  and 
Apostles ;  but  here  we  desire  not  to  lie  under  any 
restraint  imposed  by  the  disciplinary  of  those  Councils. 
To  this  we  must  subjoin,  that  as  to  the  seventh  general 
Council  assembled  at  Nice,  we  think  ourselves  obliged  to 
declare,  that  we  cannot  assent  to  the  giving  even  the 
worship  Dulia  to  angels  or  departed  saints." 

They  proceed  to  state  their  reasons  at  some  length,  and 
then  add  : — 

"  As  for  their  Patriarchal  Lordships'  sentiment,  main- 
taining the  bread  and  wine  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  being 
changed,  after  consecration,  into  the  actual  body  and  blood 
of  our  Saviour,  nothing  of  the  elements  remaining  except- 
ing the   bare   accidents  void  of  substance,  we  can  by  no 

VOL.  III.  K 


no  BRETT. 

means  agree  with  their  Lordships'  dqctrine  :  such  a  cor- 
poral presence  which  they  call  transubstantiation  having 
no  foundation  in  Scripture,  and  being  by  implication,  and 
sometimes  plainly  denied  by  the  most  celebrated  Fathers 
of  the  primitive  Church." 

They  conclude  with  observing  that  "  having  repre- 
snnted  the  difference  between  us,  we  are  now  to  suggest  a 
temper,  and  offer  a  compromise.  If  our  liberty  is  left  us 
therefore  in  the  instances  above  mentioned  ;  if  the  Oriental 
Patriarchs,  Bishops,  &c.  will  authentically  declare  us  not 
obliged  to  the  invocation  of  saints  and  angels,  the  worship 
of  images,  nor  the  adoration  of  the  host.  If  they  please 
publicly  and  authoritatively,  by  an  instrument  signed  by 
tliem,  to  pronounce  us  perfectly  disengaged  in  these  par- 
ticulars ;  disengaged  we  say,  at  home  and  abroad,  in  their 
(]!hurches  and  in  our  own.  These  relaxing  concessions 
allowed,  we  hope  may  answer  the  overtures  on  both  sides 
and  conciliate  an  union.  And  we  further  desire  their 
Patriarchal  Lordships,  &c.  would  please  to  remember, 
that  Christianity  is  no  gradual  religion,  but  was  entire 
and  perfect  when  the  Evangelists  and  Apostles  were 
deceased :  and  therefore  the  earliest  traditions  are  un- 
doubtedly preferable,  and  the  first  guides  the  best.  For 
the  stream  runs  clearest  towards  the  fountain  head.  Thus 
whatever  variations  there  are  from  the  original  state, 
whatever  crosses  in  belief  or  practice  upon  the  earliest 
ages  ought  to  come  under  suspicion.  Therefore  as  they 
charitably  put  us  in  mind  to  shake  off  all  prejudices,  so  we 
entreat  them  not  to  take  it  amiss  if  we  humbly  suggest  the 
same  advice.  We  hope  therefore  your  Lordships'  impartial 
consideration  will  not  determine  by  prepossessions,  or  by  the 
precedents  of  latter  times,  but  rather  be  governed  by  the 
general  usages  and  doctrines  of  the  first  four  centuries, 
not  excluding  the  5th  :  that  they  will  not  think  themselves 
unalterably  bound  by  any  solemn  decisions  of  the  East  in 
the  8th  century,  wiiich  was  even  then  opposed  by  an  equal 
authority  in  the  West.     And  thus  presuming  both  parties 


BRETT-  HI 

will  hold  the  balance  and  wish  for  truth  to  prove  it,  we 
are  not  without  expectation  of  advancing  so  far  towards 
uniformity,  as  may  make  up  the  unhappy  breach,  and 
close  the  distance  between  us.  And  to  release  their  Patri- 
archal Lordships,  we  take  leave  with  our  most  earnest 
prayers,  '  That  the  All-wise  and  Merciful  God.  "^Tio 
makes  men  to  be  of  one  mind  in  an  house,  Who  is  the 
Author  of  peace  and  Lover  of  concord,'  may  graciously 
please  to  continue  their  benevolent  wishes,  animate  their 
zeal,  and  direct  their  measures,  for  finishing  so  glorious 
a  work.  That  the  Orthodox  Oriental  Church  and  the 
Catholic  remnant  in  Britain,  may  at  last  join  in  the 
solemnities  of  religion,  and  be  made  more  intimately  one 
fold  under  our  Shepherd  Jesus  Christ,  our  blessed  Lord 
and  Saviour,  to  Whom  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy 
(rhost  be  all  honour  and  glory,  world  ^\-ithout  end. 
Amen." 

"  This  reply  was  concluded  and  delivered  to  some 
Greeks  in  London,  to  be  by  them  transmitted  to  the  Four 
Eastern  Patriarchs.     May  QOth,  ITQQ." 

Having  heard  also  from  Ai-senius,  to  him  they  likewise 
addressed  a  letter.  "  To  the  most  venerable  and  wist 
Bishop  Arsenius  the  Metropolitan  of  Thebais,  the  i"emnant 
of  the  Catholic  bishops  and  clergy  of  Britain  wish  pros- 
perity."    It  was  signed  by 

Archibaldus,  Scoto-Britanniae  Episcopus. 

Jacobus,  Scoto-Britanniae  Episcopus. 

Jeremias,  Primus  Angio-BritanniaB  Episcopus. 

Thomas,  Anglo- Britanniae  Episcopus. 
The  last  signature  is  that  of  Brett. 

In  a  letter  addressed  by  Arsenius  in  17'^-2  to  "the  Lord 
Jeremias,  Lord  Archibaldus,  Lord  Thomas,  and  Lord 
James,"'  (Lord  Thomas  being  Bishop  Brett,)  it  was  pro- 
posed that  two  of  their  pai'ty  should  be  sent  to  Piussia  for 
the  purpose  of  mutual  and  friendly  conferences,  and  this 
is  stated  to  be  the  wish  of  the  Emperor.  The  proposition 
was  also  made  in  a  letter  from  the  Russian  Governinir 


112  BRETT. 

Council,  dated  August  25tli,  17-i3  ;  who  forwarded  another 
letter  to  the  Non-juring  Bishops  the  year  following.  This 
document  is  addressed  "  To  the  Most  Reverend  the 
Bishops  o-f  the  Catholic  Church  in  Great  Britain,  our 
dearest  brothers."  It  is  called  "  The  Orthodox  Confession 
of  the  Apostolical,  Catholic,  and  Oriental  Church  of 
Christ."  A  Synod  had  been  assembled  to  consider  the 
previous  answer  of  the  Non-juring  Bishops ;  and  the 
decision  was  now  transmitted  to  England.  They  acknow- 
ledge the  reception  of  the  Nonjurors'  reply  ;  but  they  add^ 
that  they  have  nothing  further  to  remark,  in  addition  to 
their  previous  answer.  They  state,  however,  that  the  doc- 
trines have  been  decided  upon,  and  "  that  it  is  neither 
lawful  to  add  any  thing  to  them  nor  take  any  thing  from 
them  :  and  that  those,  who  are  disposed  to  agree  with  us  in 
the  divine  doctrines  of  the  orthodox  faith,  must  necessarily 
follow  and  submit  to  what  has  been  defined  and  deter- 
mined, by  ancient  Fathers  and  the  holy  (Ecumenical 
Synods  from  the  time  of  the  Apostles  and  their  holy  suc- 
cessors, the  Fathers  of  our  Church  to  this  time.  We  say 
they  must  submit  to  them,  with  sincerity  and  obedience,, 
and  without  any  scruple  or  dispute.  And  this  is  a  sufifi- 
cient  answer  to  what  you  have  written,"  With  this  letter 
they  forward  "  x\n  Exposition  of  the  Orthodox  Faith"  of 
the  Eastern  Church,  agreed  upon  in  a  Synod  called  the 
Synod  of  Jerusalem,  1672,  and  printed  in  1675.  With 
resj^ct  to  "custom  and  ecclesiastical  order,  and  for  the 
form  and  discipline  of  administering  the  Sacraments,  they 
will  be  easily  settled,"  say  they,  "  when  (mce  an  union 
is  effected.  For  it  is  evident  from  ecclesiastical  history, 
that  there  have  been  and  now  are  different  customs  and 
regulations  in  different  places  and  Churches,  and  that  the 
unity  of  faith  and  doctrine  is  preserved  the  same."  This 
letter  is  signed  by  the  Patriarchs  and  several  Archbishops 
and  Bishops,  and  dated  September  1723,  from  Constan- 
tinople. 

The  Non-jurors  were  unable  to  send  their  deputies  im- 
mediately, and  on  the  death  of  the  Emperor  the  matter 


BRETT.  113 

was  dropped.  But  it  was  not  only  the  death  of  the  Czar 
that  put  a  stop  to  the  negociations,  but  also  the  indiscre- 
tion of  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  in  writing  to  Wake, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  sending  copies  of  the 
proposals  to  him.  Archbishop  Wake  most  probably 
regarded  the  whole  affair  as  unworthy  of  notice,  and 
behaved  very  geuerously  by  not  exposing  the  papers,  or 
suffering  them  to  be  ridiculed. 

Shortly  before  this  the  Non-juring  communion  was  broken 
into  two  sections,  under  their  respective  leaders.  Both 
parties  were  hostile  to  the  National  Church :  but  Spinkes, 
w^ith  his  supporters,  dissented  only  on  the  questions  of  the 
Oaths  and  the  Prayers  for  the  reigning  Sovereign ;  while 
Collier  and  Brett,  and  those  who  concurred  with  them, 
introduced,  as  we  have  seen,  a  New  Communion  Office. 
involving  several  important  practices,  which  had  been 
deliberately  rejected  by  the  Church  of  England.  After 
this  separation,  much  bitterness  was  manifested  in  the 
controversy,  which  was  carried  on  between  the  two 
sections  :  and  some  from  both  parties  sought  refuge  in  the 
bosom  of  the  National  Church. 

In  the  year  1722,  Brett  united  with  Collier  and  the 
Scottish  Bishop  Campbell  to  increase  the  number  of 
Bishops  in  their  section,  and  consecrated  John  Griffin. 

During  all  this  period  Brett  was  actively  employed 
as  an  author.  He  published.  An  Account  of  Church 
Government  and  Governors,  wherein  is  showed  that  the 
government  of  the  Church  of  England  is  most  agreeable 
to  that  of  the  Primitive  Church ;  for  the  instruction  of  a 
near  relation,  who  had  been  brought  up  among  the  Dis- 
senters, London,  1707,  8vo.  The  Authority  of  Pres- 
byters Vindicated.  Two  Letters  on  the  times  wherein 
Marriage  is  said  to  be  prohibited,  London,  1708,  4to. 
A  Letter  to  the  Author  of  Lay-Baptism  Invalid  ;  wherein 
the  Doctrine  of  Lay-Baptism,  taught  in  a  Sermon,  said  to 

have  been  preached  by  the  B of  S y,  Nov.  1710, 

is  censured  and  condemned   by  all  Pieformed  Churches, 

K    '2 


114  BRETT. 

London,  1711.  A  Sermon  on  Remission  of  Sins,  John  xx, 
21 — 23,  London,  1712.  The  Doctrine  of  Remission  &c.r 
ExjDlained  and  Vindicated.  With  this  sermon  he  also 
published,  in  1715,  five  others.  On  the  Honour  of  the 
Christian  Priesthood ;  the  Extent  of  Christ's  Commis- 
sion to  Baptize  ;  the  Christian  Altar  and  Sacrifice  ;  the 
Dangers  of  a  Relapse ;  and.  True  Moderation.  The 
Extent  of  Christ's  Commission  to  Baptize,  with  the  Letter 
to  the  Author  of  Lay-Baptism  Invalid,  was  answered  by 
Mr.  Bingham,  in  his  Scholastic  History  of  Lay-Baptism  ;: 
and  being  reflected  upon  by  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  in  a 
Charge,  he  wrote,  An  Inquiry  into  the  Judgment  and 
Practice  of  the  Primitive  Church,  &c.,  in  answer  thereto, 
London,  1713.  And  upon  Mr.  Bingham's  reply,  he  pub- 
lished, A  farther  Inquiry,  &c.,  1714;  A  Review  of  the 
Lutheran  principles,  showing  how  they  differ  from  the 
Church  of  England,  &c. ;  A  Vindication  of  himself  from 
thj  Calumnies  cast  upon  him  in  some  Newspapers,  falsely 
charging  him  with  turning  Papist ;  in  a  Letter  to  the 
Plon.  Arch.  Campbell,  Esq.,  London,  1715.  Dr.  Bennet's 
Concessions  to  the  Non-jurors  proved  destructive  to  the 
Cause  he  endeavours  to  defend,  1717.  The  Independency 
of  the  Church  upon  the  State,  as  to  its  pure  spiritual 
Powers,  &c.  1717.  The  Divine  Right  of  Episcopacy,  &c. 
1718;  and,  in  the  same  year.  Tradition  necessary  to  ex- 
plain and  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures,  with  a  Postscript 
in  answer  to  No  Sufficient  Reason,  &c.,  and  a  Preface, 
with  Remarks  on  Tolands  Nazarenus ;  and  a  further 
Proof  of  the  Necessity  of  Tradition,  &c.  A  Vindication  of 
the  Postscript,  in  answer  to  No  Just  Grounds,  &c.  1720. 
A  Discourse  concerning  the  Necessity  of  discerning  Christ's 
Body  in  the  Holy  Communion,  London,  1720.  A  Disser- 
tation on  the  Principal  Liturgies  used  by  the  Christian 
Church  in  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  1720. 
He  is  also  supposed  to  have  written.  Some  Discourses  on 
the  Ever- blessed  Trinity,  in  the  same  year.  Of  Degrees 
in  the  University,  a  Dissertation  in  the  Biblioth.  Liter. 
No.  1.      An  Essay  on  the  various  English  Translations  of 


BREVIXT.  115 

the  Bible,  No.  4.  Au  Historical  Essay  concerning  Arith- 
metical Figures,  No.  8,  with  an  Appendix  to  it,  No.  10, 
lT'-i2 — 23 — 24,  in4to.  An  Instruction  to  a  Person  newlj 
Confirmed,  &g.  1725.  A  Chronological  Essay  on  the 
Sacred  History,  &c.,  in  defence  of  the  Computation  of  the 
Septuagint,  with  an  Essay  on  the  Confusion  of  Languages, 
1729.  A  General  History  of  the  World,  &c.  1732.  An 
Answer  to  the  Plain  Account  of  the  Sacrament,  in  1735-6. 
Some  Remarks  on  Dr.  Waterland's  Review  of  the  Doctrine 
of  the  Eucharist,  &c.,  with  an  Appendix,  in  answer  to  his 
Charges,  1741.  A  Letter  to  a  Clergyman,  showing  why 
the  Hebrew  Bibles  differ  from  the  Septuagint,  1743. 
Four  Letters  between  a  Gentleman  and  a  Clergyman,  con- 
cerning the  necessity  of  Episcopal  Communion  for  the 
.valid  administration  of  Gospel  Ordinances,  1743.  The 
Life  of  Mr.  John  Johnson,  A.M.,  prefixed  to  his  Post- 
humous Tracts,  in  1748;  with  several  Prefaces  to  the 
works  of  others,  particularly  a  very  long  one  to  Hart's  Bul- 
wark Stormed,  &c.  In  1760,  was  published,  a  Disserta- 
tion on  the  Ancient  Versions  of  the  Bible ;  a  second 
edition,  prepared  for  the  press  by  the  Author,  and  now 
first  published,  8vo. 

Sir  John  Hawkins  informs  us  that  Dr.  Johnson  derived 
his  opinion  of  the  lawfulness  of  praying  for  the  dead,  from 
the  controversy  on  the  subject  in  1715,  agitated  between 
certain  Nonjuring  Divines,  and  particularly  from  the 
aiguments  of  Bishop  Brett. 

Brett  died  at  his  house  in  Spring  Grove  on  the  5th  of 
March,  1743,  leaving  behind  him  the  character  of  a  pious 
as  well  as  a  learned  man. —  Lathbury's  History  of  the  No?i- 
jurors.  Master's  History  of  C.  C.  C.  Cambridge.  Hawkins's 
Life  of  Johnson. 

BREVINT,    DA^'IEL. 

Daniel  Brevint  was  born  in  the  Isle  of  Jersey,  in 
1616,  and  received  there  his  primary  education.  Before 
tije  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,   and   till   Charles  I., 


116  BREVINT. 

by  Archbishop  Laud's  persuasion,  founded  three  fellow- 
ships in  the  colleges  of  Pembroke,  Exeter,  and  Jesus,  at 
Oxford,  for  Jersey  and  Guernsey  alternately,  young  men 
of  those  Islands,  designed  for  the  ministry,  were  too  often 
sent  to  study  among  the  protestants  in  France,  particularly 
at  Saumur.  Here  Brevint  studied  logic  and  philosophy. 
In  1638,  he  was  incorporated  master  of  arts  at  Oxford,  as 
he  stood  at  Saumur ;  and  the  same  year  was  chosen  to  be 
the  first  fellow  at  Jesus  College,  upon  the  foundation  just 
mentioned.  But  he  did  not  retain  his  fellowship  long. 
The  presbyterians  and  dissenters,  obtaining  power,  ejected 
every  Christian  of  the  Church  of  England  out  of  his  pre- 
ferment whatever  it  was.  And  Brevint  was  deprived  of 
his  fellowship  in  1643.  He  then  withdrew  to  his  native 
country ;  and,  upon  the  reduction  of  that  place  by  the , 
Parliament's  forces,  fled  into  France,  and  became  pastor 
of  a  protestant  congregation  in  Normandy.  Soon  after 
the  Viscount  de  Turenne,  afterwards  Marshall  of  France, 
whose  lady  was  distinguished  for  her  piety,  appointed  him 
one  of  his  chaplains.  Whilst  he  held  this  office,  he  was 
one  of  the  persons  employed  in  the  design  of  reconciling 
the  protestant  and  popish  religions  ;  which  gave  him  an 
access  into,  and  made  him  acquainted  with,  every  corner 
of  the  Romish  Church,  as  he  says  himself.  At  the  Resto- 
ration, Brevint  returned  to  England,  and  was  presented 
by  Charles  II.,  who  had  known  him  abroad,  to  the  tenth 
prebend  in  the  cathedral  of  Durham.  Dr.  Cosin,  bishop 
of  that  see,  who  had  been  his  fellow-sufferer,  also  collated 
him  to  a  living  in  his  diocese.  In  February,  1661,  he 
took  the  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity  at  Oxford ;  and  in 
December,  1681,  he  was  promoted  to  the  deanery  of  Lin- 
coln. Duiing  his  exile  he  had  seen  the  worst  features  of 
popery,  and  all  the  dishonest  arts  used  to  support  it ;  and 
consequently  in  1672  he  published  his  Missale  Romano- 
rum  ;  or,  the  Death  and  Mystery  of  the  Roman  Mass  laid 
open  and  explained,  for  the  use  of  both  reformed  and  un- 
reformed  Christians.  He  was  one  of  those  sound  divines 
who  contended  against  popery  on  catholic  principles,  as 


BREYINT.  117 

may  be  seen  from  the  following  passages  taken  from  this 
work.  He  vigorously  opposes  what  he  shews  to  be  the 
main  intention  of  the  Mass,  namely,  to  offer  up  to 
God  the  Father  the  Body  and  Blood  of  his  Son. 
"This,"  says  he,  "is  the  grand  object  of  Rome's  Catholic 
religion  ;  and  whosoever  every  morning  goes  to  that 
Church,  it  is  in  order  to  have  some  share  in  this  un- 
reasonable service. 

"  For,  both  in  reason  and  Scripture,  we  are  to  offer 
ourselves  to  God ;  which  St.  Paul  calls  our  '  reasonable 
service.'  Rom.  xii.  1.  We  must,  likewise,  offer  our  prayers, 
praises,  elevation  of  hearts,  tears  of  contrition,  virtuous 
thoughts,  just  and  charitable  vows  and  works,  &c.,  which, 
in  opjDosition  to  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Levitical  sacrifices, 
the  ancient  fathers  used  to  call  'sacrifices  without  blood.' 
We  must  also  celebrate,  and  in  a  manner  offer  to  God, 
and  expose  and  lay  before  him  the  holy  memorials  of  that 
great  sacrifice  on  the  cross,  the  only  foundation  of  God's 
mercies  and  of  our  hopes,  in  like  manner  as  faithful 
Israelites  did,  at  every  occasion,  represent  unto  God  that 
covenant  of  His  with  Abraham  their  father,  as  the  original 
conveyance  of  blessings  settled  on  his  posterity.  And  this 
is  the  '  sacramental  priestly  office'  in  the  Areopagite,  the 
'  commemorative  sacrifice'  in  St.  Chrysostom,  and  the 
'  sacrifice  after  the  order  of  Melchisedek'  in  St,  Theodoret, 
which  we  solemnly  do  offer  in  the  celebration  of  holy 
mysteries.  All  these  things,  I  say,  and  whatsoever  else 
depends  on  them,  it  is  our  duty  to  offer  to  God  and  to 
Christ,  or  rather  to  God  by  Christ.  But  that  we  should 
offer  also  Christ  Himself,  our  Lord  and  our  God,  to  Whom 
we  must  offer  ourselves ;  it  is  a  piece  of  devotion  never 
heard  of  among  men,  till  the  Mass  came  in  to  bring  such 
news. 

"  Because  it  was  the  general  custom  of  primitive  Chris- 
tians, never  to  receive  the  holy  Sacrament  but  after  they 
had  made  their  offerings,  out  of  which  the  two  elements  of 
bread  and  wine,  being  set  apart  and  consecrated,  and 
then,  by  an  ordinary  manner  of  speech,  called  the  Body 


1 18  BREVINT. 

and  Blood  of  Christ  ;  the  word,  as  well  as  the  act  of 
otfering,  got  so  large  and  common  a  use  in  two  distinct 
offices,  as  to  signifj'  the  whole  service  ;  which  St.  Augus- 
tine more  distinctly  calls  '  offering'  and  '  receiving ; '  that 
is,  offering  the  bread  and  wine  before,  and  receiving  part 
of  it  after  it  was  consecrated.  And  really  the  whole 
service  was  little  more  than  a  continued  oblation.  For 
Christians,  before  the  Sacrament,  offered  their  gifts  ;  and, 
after  it,  offered  their  prayers,  their  praises,  and  themselves. 
And  this  was  the  constant  and  solemn  oblation  of  the 
Church,  until  dark  and  stupid  ages,  w^hich  by  degrees 
have  hatched  transubstantiation  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Roman  Church,  have  at  last  improved  it  to  this  horrid 
direful  semce,  which  mainly  aims  at  this,  to  offer  upon 
an  altar,  not  the  bread  and  wine  as  before,  but  the  very 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ. 

"And  because  these  public  offices  about  the  holy 
Sacrament  are,  in  antiquity,  commonly  called  sacrifices, 
as  being  standing  memorials  of  the  true  sacrifice  of 
Christ,  the  Church  of  Rome  is  now  pleased  to  mistake 
these  'antitypes'  and  'representations,'  as  the  ancient 
Church  calls  them,  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  for  Christ 
Himself,  represented  by  the  antitypes  ;  and  upon  this 
mistake  she  now  builds  up  altars  in  e^ery  corner  of  her 
temples,  thereon  not  only  to  offer,  but  also  to  sacrifice  the 
Son  of  God." 

The  next  year  he  published  or  reprinted  the  Christian 
Sacrament  and  Sacrifice,  by  way  of  discourse,  meditation, 
and  prayer,  upon  the  nature,  parts,  and  blessings  of  the 
holy  communion.  This  celebrated  work  was  eulogized  by 
Dr.  Waterland,  and  reprinted  at  his  suggestion  in  1739. 
In  it  he  still  maintains  his  orthodox  view  of  the  euchar- 
istic  sacrifice.  '*  It  must  be  granted,"  he  says,  "  that  the 
Holy  Communion  is  not  only  a  Sacrament,  that  the  wor- 
shipper is  to  come  to  for  no  other  pui-pose,  than  to  receive  ; 
nor  a  sacrifice  only,  where  he  should  have  nothing  else  to 
do,  but  to  give :  but  it  is  as  the  great  solemnity  of  the 
ancient  passover  was,  whereof  it  hath  taken  place  ;  a  great 


BREVIXT.  119 

mystery,  consisting  both  of  Sacrament  and  sacrifice,  that 
is,  of  the  religious  service  which  the  people  owe  to  God, 
and  of  the  full  salvation  which  God  is  pleased  to  promise 
to  His  people. 

"  It  is  a  certain  truth,  that  there  never  was  on  earth  a 
true  religion  without  some  kind  of  sacrifices  :  and  it  is  a 
very  great  lie  to  say  that  now  the  Christian  should  want 
them 

"  Of  all  the  carnal  sacrifices,  which  the  Jews  do  reduce 
to  six  kinds,  (besides  many  more  oblations,]  none  ever  had 
any  saving  reality,  as  to  the  washing  away  of  sins,  but  in 
dependence  on  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ;  and  as  to  our  ser- 
vice and  duty  towards  God,  which  they  were  also  to  repre- 
sent, none  had  this  second  end  so  fully  performed  under 
the  Law  as  it  must  be  under  the  Gospel.  The  blessed 
Communion  alone,  when  whole  and  not  mutilated,  concen- 
ters and  brings  together  these  two  great  ends  (full  expia- 
tion of  sins,  and  acceptable  duty  to  God,)  towards  which 
all  the  old  sacrifices  never  looked,  but  as  either  simple 
engagements,  or  weak  shadows.  As  for  the  first,  which  is 
expiation  of  sins,  it  is  most  certain  that  the  sacrifice  of 
Jesus  Christ  alone  hath  been  sufficient  for  it :  .  .  .  .  And 
the  reiteration  of  it  were  not  only  superfluous  as  to  its 
real  effect,  but  also  most  injurious  to  Christ  in  the  very 
thought  and  attempt. 

•'Nevertheless,  this  sacrifice,  which  by  a  real  oblation 
was  not  to  be  offered  more  than  once,  is,  by  an  eucharis- 
tical  and  devout  commemoration,  to  be  offered  up  every 
day.  This  is  what  the  Apostle  calls,  to  *  set  forth  the 
death  of  the  Lord,' — to  set  it  forth,  I  say,  as  well  before 
the  eyes  of  God  His  Father,  as  before  the  eyes  of  all  men, 
— and  St.  Augustine  did  explain,  when  he  said  that  the 
holy  flesh  of  Jesus  Christ  was  offered  up  in  three  manners; 
by  prefiguring  sacrifices  under  the  Law,  before  His  coming 
into  the  world ;  in  real  deed  upon  the  cross ;  and  by  a 
commemorative  Sacrament,  after  He  is  ascended  into  hea- 
ven. All  comes  to  this — First,  that  the  sacrifice,  as  it  is 
itself  and  in  itself,  it  can  never  be  reiterated ;  yet,  by  way 


120  BREVINT. 

of  devout  celebration  and  remembrance,  it  may  neverthe- 
less be  reiterated  every  day.  Secondly,  that  whereas  the 
holy  Eucharist  is  by  itself  a  Sacrament,  wherein  God 
offers  unto  all  men  the  blessings  merited  by  the  oblation 
of  His  Son,  it  likewise  becomes,  by  our  remembrance,  a 
kind  of  sacrifice  also ;  whereby,  to  obtain  at  His  hands 
the  same  blessings,  we  present  and  expose  before  His  eyes 
that  same  holy  and  precious  oblation  once  offered.  Thus 
the  ancient  Israelites  did  continually  represent,  in  their 
solemn  prayers  to  God,  that  covenant  which  He  had  made 
once  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  their  forefathers. 
Thus  did  the  Jews,  in  their  captivity,  turn  their  faces 
towards  either  the  country  or  to  the  temple,  where  the 
mercy-seat  and  the  ark  were,  which  were  the  memorials  of 
His  promises,  and  the  Sacramental  engagement  of  His 
blessings.  And  thus  the  Christians  in  their  prayers  do 
every  day  insist  upon,  and  represent  to  God  the  Father 
the  meritorious  passion  of  their  Saviour,  as  the  only  sure 
ground,  whereon  both  God  may  give,  and  they  obtain  the 
blessings  which  they  do  pray  for.  Now,  neither  the  Israel- 
ites had  ever  temple,  or  ark,  or  mercy-seat,  nor  the  Chris- 
tians have  any  ordinance,  devotion,  or  mystery,  that  may 
prove  to  be  such  a  blessed  and  effectual  instrument  to 
reach  this  everlasting  sacrifice,  and  to  set  it  out  so 
solemnly  before  the  eyes  of  God  Almighty,  as  the  holy 
Eucharist  is.  To  men  it  is  a  sacred  table,  where  God's 
minister  is  ordered  to  represent  from  God  his  master  the 
passion  of  His  dear  Son,  as  still  fresh  and  still  powerful 
for  their  eternal  salvation  :  and  to  God  it  is  an  altar, 
whereon  men  mystically  lepresent  to  Him  the  same  sacri- 
fice, as  still  bleeding  and  sueing  for  expiation  and  mercy. 
And  because  it  is  the  High  Priest  Himself,  the  true 
anointed  of  the  Lord,  Who  hath  set  up  most  expressly 
both  this  table  and  this  altar  for  these  two  ends,  namely, 
for  the  communication  of  His  body  and  blood  to  men,  and 
for  the  representation  and  memorial  of  both  to  God :  it 
cannot  be  doubted,  but  that  the  one  must  be  most  advan- 
tageous to  the  penitent  sinner,  and  the  other  most  accept- 


BREVINT.  1^1 

able  to  that  good  and  gracious  Father,  Who  is  always 
pleased  in  His  Son,  and  Who  loves  of  Himself  the  repent- 
ing and  the  sincere  returning  of  His  children,  Luke  xv. 
22.  Hence  one  may  see  both  the  great  use  and  advantage 
of  more  frequent  communion  ;  and  how  much  it  concenis 
us,  whensoever  we  go  to  receive  it,  to  lay  out  all  our 
wants,  and  pour  out  all  our  grief,  our  prayers,  and  our 
praises,  before  the  Lord  in  so  happy  a  conjuncture.  The 
primitive  Christians  did  it  so,  who  did  as  seldom  meet  to 
preach  or  pray,  without  a  Communion,  as  did  the  old 
Israelites  to  worship,  without  a  Sacrifice.  On  solemn 
days  especially,  or  upon  great  exigencies,  they  ever  used 
this  help  of  sacramental  oblation,  as  the  most  powerful 
means  the  Church  had  to  strengthen  their  supplications, 
to  open  the  gates  of  heaven,  and  to  force  in  a  manner  God 
and  His  Christ,  to  have  compassion  on  them.  The  people 
of  Israel,  for  the  better  performance  of  prayer  and  devo- 
tion, went  up  to  the  Tabernacle  and  the  Temple,  because 
(besides  other  motives)  both  these  were  figures  of  that 
Body  which  was  to  be  sacrificed.  Wherefore  Christ  calls 
His  body  **  this  temple,"  John  ii.  19 ;  and  the  first 
Christians  went  up  to  their  churches,  there  to  meet  with 
these  mysteries,  which  do  represent  Him  both  as  already 
sacrificed,  and  yet  as  in  some  sort  offering  and  giving  up 
Himself.  Those,  in  worshipping,  ever  turned  their  eyes, 
their  hearts,  their  hopes  towards  that  Altar  and  Sacrifice, 
whence  the  High  Priest  was  to  carry  the  Blood  into  the 
sanctuaiy:  and  these,  looking  towards  the  Cross  and 
their  crucified  Saviour  there,  through  His  sufferings  hope 
for  a  way  towards  heaven ;  being  encouraged  to  this  hope 
by  the  very  memorial  which  they  both  take  to  themselves 
and  show  to  God  of  these  sufferings.  Lastly,  Jesus,  our 
eternal  Priest,  being  from  the  Cross,  where  He  suffered 
without  the  gate,  gone  up  into  the  true  sanctuary  which  is 
in  heaven,  there  above  doth  continually  present  both  His 
Body  in  true  reality,  and  us  as  Aaron  did  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel,   in   a  memorial.     Exod.  xxviii.  20.  and, 

VOL.  TII.  L 


U)i  BREVINT. 

on  the  other  side,  we,  beneath  in  the  Church,  present 
to  God  His  Body  and  Blood  in  a  memorial,  that, 
under  this  shadow  of  His  Cross,  and  image  of  His 
Sacrifice,  we  may  present  ourselves  before  Him  in  very 
deed  and  reality." 

A  little  afterwards  he  observes,  "it  is  either  the  error, 
or  the  incogitancy  of  too  many  Christians,  which  makes 
them  sometimes  believe,  and  oftener  live  as  if,  under  the 
Gospel,  there  were  no  other  Sacrifice  but  that  of  Christ 
upon  the  Cross.  It  is  very  true,  indeed,  there  is  no  other, 
nor  can  there  be  any  other  sufficient,  and  proper  for  this 
end,  of  satisfying  God's  justice,  and  expiating  our  sins. 
'  I  have  trodden  the  wine-press  alone ;  and  of  the  people 
there  was  none  with  Me ;  I  looked,  and  there  was  none  to 
help."  Isaiah  Ixiii.  3,  5.  In  this  respect,  though  the 
whole  Church  should,  in  a  body,  offer  up  herself  as  a 
burnt  Sacrifice  to  God,  yet  could  she  not  contribute  more 
towards  the  bearing  up  or  bearing  away  '  the  wrath  to 
come,'  than  all  those  innocent  souls,  who  stood  near 
Jesus  Christ  when  He  gave  up  the  ghost,  did  towards  the 
darkening  of  the  sun,  or  the  shaking  of  the  whole  earth. 
But  that  which  is  not  so  much  as  useful,  much  less  neces- 
sary, to  this  eternal  sacrifice  which  alone  could  redeem 
mankind,  is  indispensably  both  necessary  and  useful, 
that  we  may  have  a  share  in  this  redemption.  So  that  if 
the  sacrifice  of  ourselves,  which  we  ought  to  offer  up  to 
God,  cannot  procure  salvation,  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  receive  it." 

Again,  he  observes,  "  whensoever  Christians  approach, 
to  this  dreadful  mystery,  and  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  '  lying 
and  sacrificed'  (as  some  say  that  the  holy  Nicene  Council 
speaks,)  '  upon  the  holy  table,'  it  concerns  their  main 
interest,  in  point  of  salvation,  as  well  as  other  duties,  to 
take  a  special  care  not  to  lame  and  deprive  the  grand. 
Sacrifice  of  its  own  due  attendance  :  but  to  behave  them- 
selves in  that  manner  that,  as  both  the  principal  and 
additional  sacrifices  were  consumed  by  the  same  fire,  and 


BREVINT.  l-^a 

went  up  towards  heaven  in  the  the  same  flame,  so  Jesus 
Christ  and  all  His  members  may  jointly  appear  before 
God :  this  in  a  Sacramental  mystery,  these,  with  their 
real  bodies  and  souls,  ofiering  themselves  at  the  same 
time,  in  the  same  place,  and  by  the  same  oblation." 

He  states  further,  "  though  Christ  our  blessed  Saviour, 
by  that  everlasting  and  ever  same  Sacrifice  of  Himself, 
offer  Himself  virtually  up  on  all  occasions  :  and  we,  on 
our  side,  also,  offer  ourselves,  and  what  is  ours,  with  Him 
several  other  ways,  besides  that  of  the  Holy  Communion  : 
nevertheless,  because  Christ  offers  Himself  for  us  at  the 
Holy  Communion  in  a  more  solemn  and  pubhc  sacra- 
mental way, — (thence  it  comes,  that  the  memorial  of  the 
Sacrifice  of  Christ  thereby  celebrated,  takes  commonly  the 
name  of  the  Sacrifice  itself,  as  St.  Austin  explains  it 
often,) — we  are  then  obliged,  in  a  more  special  manner, 
to  renew  all  our  sacrifices,  all  the  vows  of  our  baptism,  all 
the  first  fruits  of  our  conversion,  and  all  the  particular 
promises  which,  it  may  be,  we  have  made." 

In  1674  he  published  Saul  and  Samuel  at  Endor,  or  the 
New  Ways  of  Salvation  and  Service,  which  usually  tempt 
men  to  Rome,  and  detain  them  there,  truly  represented  and 
refuted ;  reprinted  1688;  at  the  end  of  which  is  A  Brief 
Account  of  R.  F.,  his  Missale  Vindicatum,  or  Vindication 
of  the  Roman  Mass,  being  an  answer  to  The  Depth  and 
Mystery  of  the  Roman  Mass,  before-mentioned.  Besides 
the  above  works,  he  published  in  Latin,  Ecclesise  primi- 
tivse  Sacramentum  et  Sacrificium,  a  Pontificiis  coniiptelis, 
et  exinde  natis  Controversiis  libenim,  written  at  the 
desire  of  the  Princesses  of  Turenne  and  Bouillon.  Eu- 
charistiae  Praesentia  realis,  et  Pontificia  ficta,  luculentissi- 
mis  non  Testimoniis  modo,  sed  etiam  Fundamentis, 
quibus  fere  tota  SS.  Patrum  Theologia  nititur,  haec 
explosa,  ilia  suffulta  et  asserta.  Pro  Serenissima  Principe 
Weimariensi  ad  Theses  Jenenses  accurata  Responsio. 
Ducentae  plus  minus  Praelectiones  in  S.  Matthaei  xxv. 
capita,  et  aliorum  Evangelistarum  locos  hisce  passim 
parallelos.     He  also  translated  into  French,  The  judgment 


1^4  BRIDFERTH. 

of  the  University  of  Oxford  concerning  the  solemn  League 
and  Covenant.  He  died  on  the  5th  of  May,  1695. — 
Wood's  AthencD  and  Fasti.  Walkers  Sufferings  of  the 
Clergy.  Willis  s  Smrey  of  the  Cathedral  of  Lincoln. 
Brevinfs  Works. 


BRIDFEETH. 

Bridferth  was  bora  in  the  tenth  century,  and  having 
received  his  education  in  France,  became,  as  Leland 
supposes,  a  monk  of  Thorney.  He  was  celebrated  as  a 
mathematician,  and  in  the  school  of  Ramsey  was  a  pro- 
fessor of  science.  He  wrote  commentaries  on  the  two 
treatises  of  Bede,  De  Natura  Rerum,  and  De  Temporum 
Ratione.  Two  other  works  are  also  attributed  to  him, 
De  Principiis  Mathematecis  Lib.  1.,  and  De  Institutione 
Monachorum  Lib.  1., — in  addition  to  these  Mabillon 
regards  him  as  author  of  the  Life  of  Dunstan,  in  the  Acta 
Sanctorum.  All  these  vrorks  are  valuable,  as  illustrating 
both  the  learning  and  the  mode  of  thought  peculiar  to  the 
age. — Wright.     Leland.     Pits. 


BRIDGE,    WILLIAM. 

William  Bridge  was  born  in  1600.  He  was  a  fellow 
of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  where  he  took  his 
master's  degree ;  and  afterwards  settled  as  a  minister  at 
Norwich,  till  he  was  silenced  for  non- conformity,  when  he 
went  to  Rotterdam,  and  was  chosen  pastor  of  an  indepen- 
dent congregation.  In  1642  he  returned  to  England,  and 
was  appointed  one  of  the  Westminster  assembly.  He  had 
also  the  living  of  Great  Yarmouth,  from  which  he  was 
ejected  after  the  Restoration,  and  died  in  1670.  His 
works,  which  are  rigidly  calvinistic,  were  published  in  two 
vols.  4to. — Calamy. 


BRISTOW.  105 


BKIDGEWATER,    JOHN. 


John  Bridgewater  was  bom  iu  Yorkshire,  of  a  Somer- 
setshire family.  He  was  educated  at  Hart  Hall,  Oxford, 
after  which  he  became  a  member  of  Brazenose  College, 
where  he  took  his  master's  degree  in  1556,  and  was 
so(m  after  ordained.  He  was  a  decided  Eomanizer, 
but  remained  in  the  Catholic  Church  of  England,  and 
became  rector  of  Lincoln  College,  canon  of  Wells,  and 
Archdeacon  of  Rochester;  but,  in  1574,  he  resigned  his 
rectorship,  and  went  over  to  Rome.  He  then  quitted  the 
kingdom,  and  went  to  the  college  for  English  Roman 
Catholics  at  Douay ;  he  afterwards  settled  in  Germany, 
where  he  died  about  1600.  He  published,  Concertatio 
Ecclesiae  Catholicae  in  Anglia,  4to  Confutatio  virulentae 
Disputationis  Theologicag,  in  qua  Georgius  John  Prof. 
Acad.  Heidelberg,  conatus  est  docere,  Pontificem  Roma- 
num  esse  Antichristum,  &c.  1589,  4to.  An  account  of 
the  Six  Articles,  usually  proposed  to  the  missionaries  that 
suffered  in  England. — Dod.     Wood. 


BRISTOW,    RICHARD. 

Richard  Bristow  was  born  at  Worcester,  in  1538. 
Pits  asserts  that  in  1555  he  entered  at  Exeter  College, 
Oxford,  but  Wood  doubts  this ;  it  is  certain  that  he  was  a 
member  of  Christ  Church  when  he  took  his  masters 
degi'ee  in  156"2.  In  1566  he  was  selected  with  Campian 
to  entertain  Queen  Elizabeth  on  her  visit  to  the  university, 
with  a  public  disputation  ;  and  in  the  following  year  he 
was  appointed  a  fellow  of  Exeter  College.  He  was  at  this 
time  suspected  of  Romanizing  propensities  which  inter- 
fered with  his  prospect  of  further  preferment.  And  the 
suspicions  were  proved  to  be  too  true,  as  in  1569  he  fell 
into  schism,  left  his  college,  and  quitted  the  kingdom. 
He  went  toLouvain,  and  by  Cardinal  x\llenwas  made  the 

VOL.  III.  M 


1-26  BRISTOW. 

first  moderator  in  the  English  college  by  him  founded  at 
Douay,  took  upon  him  the  priesthood,   being  the   first  in 
that  college   who  did  so,  and  read  the  first  public  lectnre 
of  divinity  there.    Afterwards,  upon  Dr.  Allen's  instituting 
another  seminary  at  Rheiras,   Bristo-w  was  sent  for,   and 
the  care  of  that  place  was  committed  to  him  also  in  1579, 
a  substitute  being  provided  at  Douay  :   about  which  time 
he  tot)k  the  degree  in  divinity,  partly  at  Douay  and  partly 
at  Louvain,  and  became,  says  Wood,  famous  in  those  parts 
for  his  religion   and  learning.     He  privately  returned  to 
England  shortly  after,  by  his  physician's  advice,  to  try  the 
effect  of  his  native  air,   in  consequence  of  a  pulmonary 
complaint,  and  died  near  Harrow,  October  18,  1581.     He 
published, — 1.  A  Brief  Treatise  of  divers  plain  and  sure 
Ways  to  find  out  the  Tiuth  in  this  doubtful  and  dangerous 
time  of  heresy ;  containing  sundry  motives  unto  the  Catholic 
Faith,   or  Considerations  to  move  a  Man  to  believe  the 
Catholics  and  not  the  Heretics,   Antwerp,   1599.     These 
motives  were  answered  by  Dr.  Will.  Fulke,  of  Cambridge. 
And   Bristow  published, — 2.  A  Reply  to  Will.  Fulke,   in 
Defence  of  Dr.  Allen's  Scroul  of  Articles  and  Book  of 
Purgatory,   Lov.   1580.     Dr.  Fulke  published  a  rejoinder 
the  year  following.     3.  Anti-Haeretica  Motiva,   omnibus 
Catholicee  Doctrinse  Orthodoxis  cultoribus  pemecessaria, 
Atrebat.  1608,  in  two  vols,  4to.     This  large  book,   which 
contains  most  if  not  all  the  former  motives,  was  translated 
into   Latin   by  Thomas   Worthington,    a  secular   priest, 
afterwards  a  Jesuit,   in   1606,   and  by   him  pubHshed   at 
Arras  two  years  after.     4.  Demands  (fifty-one  in  number) 
to  be  proposed  by   Catholics  to  the   Heretics.       Several- 
times  printed  in  8vo.     This  also  was  answered  in  a  book 
entitled.   To  the  Seminary  Priests  late  come  over,  some 
like   Gentlemen,   &c.  Lond.   1592.     5.  A  Defence  of  the 
Bull  of  Pope  Pius  V.    He  also  collected,  and  for  the  most 
part  wrote,  Annotations  on  the  New  Testament,  translated 
into  English  at  Rheims :  and  was  also,  as  it  seems,  author 
of-  Veritates    iVureaj    S.  R.  Ecclesioe,    Autoritatibus    vet. 
Patrum,  &c.  Ui^.—Dod.    Pits.    Tanner.    Wood. 


BROKESBY.  ur 

BRITirS,    OR   ST.    BRICE. 

Britius  was  bishop  of  Tours,  and  successor  of  St.  ^lar- 
tin  in  that  see.  He  died  on  the  ]  3th  of  Xovember,  444, 
but  although  his  name  is  honoured  as  that  of  a  saint  in 
the  calendar  of  the  Church  of  England,  little  seems  to  l^ 
known  of  him  except  that  having  in  his  youth  been 
addicted  to  licentious  pleasures,  he  became  a  sincere 
penitent 

BROKESBY,    FRA^'CIS. 

Francis  Brokesby  was  bom  at  Stoke  in  Leicestershire, 
September  :29th,  1C37,  and  was  educated  at  Cambridge, 
where  he  became  a  fellow  of  Trinity  College,  and  took 
his  B.D.  degree  in  1666.  He  afterwards  married  and 
became  rector  of  Rowley,  near  Hull,  in  the  East  Riding 
ot  Yorkshire. 

The  case  in  view  became  a  case  in  fact  in  1710,  when 
Brokesby,  together  with  Dodwell  and  Nelson,  again  con- 
formed to  the  Establishment.  Lloyd,  the  deprived  Bishop 
of  Norwich,  was  now  dead.  Of  the  deprived  bishops, 
therefore.  Ken  only  survived,  and  Ken  had  actually  re- 
signed his  pretensions  and  claims  to  Hoopoi',  who  suc- 
ceeded Kidder  in  the  diocese  of  Bath  and  Wells.  Dodwell 
and  others  applied  to  Ken  to  know  if  he  cliallenged  their 
subjection  :  who  replied,  that  he  did  not,  and  who  further 
expressed  his  wish,  that  the  breach  might  now  be  closed 
by  their  union  with  the  bishops  in  possession  of  the  sees. 
The  particulars  connected  with  the  return  of  Dodwell, 
Nelson,  Brokesby,  and  others  to  the  National  Church,  are 
so  full  of  interest  that  they  demand  our  special  notice. 
Dodwell  writes  to  a  friend,  under  the  date  of  January  1  Ith. 
1709-10,  Lloyd  having  died  only  ten  days  before,  con- 
cerning the  schism.     The  letter  is  as  follows  : 

"  I  have  received  yours,  and  have  already  written  to 
my  Lord  of  Bath  and  Wells,  as  the  only  sumvor  of  the 
invalidly  deprived  bishops,  and  as  thereby  having  it  in 


1-28  BROKESBY. 

his  power  now  to  free  not  only  his  private  diocese,  but  the 
whole  National  Church,  from  the  schism  introduced  by 
filling  the  sees,  which  were  no  otherwise  empty  than  by 
the  invalid  deprivations.  This  I  take  to  be  sufficient  upon 
our  principles,  who  cannot  justify  our  separate  communion 
on  any  other  account  than  that  of  the  schism,  provided 
there  be  no  other,  whom  we  do  not  yet  know  of,  who  does 
claim,  and  can  prove  a  better  title  to  some  one  episcopal 
altar  of  our  National  Church  by  succession  to  some  of  our 
deceased  fathers,  than  the  present  incumbents, 

"  This  1  had  no  mind  to  signify  to  Mr.  K before 

others  in  his  shop,  when  he  would  have  me  declare  myself 
satisfied,  that  the  schism  would  end  with  the  life  of  my 
Lord  of  Norwich.  I  had  no  mind  then  to  intimate  the 
case  of  clandestine  consecrations  by  our  deceased  Fathers, 
before  persons  who  were  not  concerned  for  the  satisfaction 
of  their  own  consciences  :  but  might  thence  easily  take 
occasion  to  represent  my  case  as  the  same  with  theirs : 
that  the  Case  in  View  would  immediately  fall  out  upon  the 
decease  of  my  Lord  of  Norwich. 

"  But  if  my  Lord  of  Bath  and  Wells  declare  he  will  not 
«o  far  insist  on  his  right,  as  to  justify  our  separate  com- 
munions upon  his  account :  we  must  then  enquire,  whe- 
ther any  claim  appear  derived  from  his  deceased  brethren, 
for  keeping  any  one  see  full,  which  had  been  otherwise 
vacant  by  their  death  :  and  what  evidence  appears  for 
supporting  that  claim :  and  whether  that  evidence  be 
satisfactory  ?  And  the  information  concerning  these  facts 
must  be  expected  from  our  friends  in  London.  But  it 
will,  I  believe,  be  most  prudent  not  to  enquire  into  secrets, 
the  discovery  of  which  may  be  dangerous  to  the  persons 
concerned  in  them.  The  persons  concerned  in  a  good 
right  so  derived,  may,  and  that  commendably,  in  prospect 
of  the  peace  which  may  follow  from  their  concealment  of 
what  they  have  to  say  upon  that  argument,  waive  their 
right,  how  good  soever  otherwise.  And  we  have  reason  to 
presume  it  is  their  design  to  do  so,  if  they  do  not  claim 
their  right  at  this  proper  time  of  claiming  it,  and  publish 


BROKESBY.  12V^ 

tbeir  evidences  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  ecclesiastical  sul>- 
jects.  x\nd  we  may  securely  practice",  as  if  they  had  no 
right  at  all,  as  presuming  that  they  have  waived  it.  Nor 
can  there  be  any  schism  without  a  known  altar,  against 
which  an  opposite  altar  may  be  erected.  It  will  not 
therefore  be  sufficient  to  prove  them  validly  consecrated 
bishops,  unless  they  were  also  put  in  possession  of  some 
particular  Church,  by  the  same  pro\'incial  Synod,  by 
which  they  were  consecrated.  Which  I  am  apt  to  think 
was  a  thing  not  foreseen,  if  there  were  any  such  clan- 
destine consecrations. 

"  The  other  arguments,  distinct  from  this  of  the  schism, 
cannot,  I  think,  be  justifiable  upon  catholic  principles. 
Nor  can  we  therefore  second  our  brethren  who  will  con- 
tinue the  separation  upon  them.  The  adjusting  these 
things  will  require  some  time  before  we  can  be  resolved 
what  to  do.  And  the  respite  will  be  convenient  for 
the  unanimity  even  of  those  who  act  upon  the  same 
principles. 

"  Thus  you  have  my  thoughts,  in  short,  concerning 
this  whole  matter.  It  concerns  us  all  to  join  our  prayers, 
that  our  own  concord  be  broken  as  little  as  is  possible, 
by  our  reconciliation  into  one  communion  with  our 
adversaries." 

This  is  a  most  interesting  and  important  document,  as 
expressive  of  Dodwell's  views  on  the  question  of  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  separation.  It  is  clear  too  that  Dodwell 
was  uncertain  about  the  new  consecrations.  He  had 
evidently  heard  a  rumour  of  such  a  thing,  but  he  had  no 
positive  knowledge  of  the  fact.  He  writes  from  Shottes- 
brooke  again  nearly  two  months  later,  under  the  date  of 
March  2nd,  to  another  friend.  At  this  time  he  had 
received  Ken's  answer. 

"  Since  the  decease  of  my  Lord  of  Norwich,  1  have  writ- 
ten to  the  excellent  bishop  Ken,  as  the  last  survivor  of  the 
invalidly  deprived  bishops,  and  have  received  his  answer: 
as  I  have  also  seen  another  answer  to  another  person,  who 


130  BROKESBY. 

consulted  him  on  the  same  occasion.     Both  are  veiy  full 
in  owning  his  not  insisting  on  his  just  right. 

"  By  these  therefore  and  other  informations,  we  are 
here  fuUy  satisfied,  that  there  is  not  now  any  longer  any 
altar  in  our  National- Church  opposite  to  another  altar  of 
the  same  Church,  that  can  justify  the  continuance  of  our 
separation.  Accordingly  our  two  families  here  were  at 
Church  on  Febmary  the  26th,  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent. 

"But  there  are  several,  who  still  scruple  the  prayers. 
Endeavours  are  however  using,  that  this  diflference  of 
practice  may  make  as  little  animosities  in  our  flock  as 
may  he  :  whose  endeavours  will  deserve  the  prayers  of  all 
who  desire  the  good  as  well  as  the  peace  of  this  afflicted 
Church."' 

The  other  letter  from  Ken,  to  which  Dodwell  alludes, 
was  undoubtedly  one  which  was  sent  to  Nelson.  Thus, 
writing  to  a  friend  on  the  same  subject,  under  date  of 
February  '^Ist,  1709-10,  Nelson  says: 

"In  order  to  satisfy  your  inquiry,  I  can  acquaint  you, 
that  I  have  received  a  letter  from  Bishop  Ken,  who  assures 
me,  '  that  he  was  always  against  that  practice  which  he 
foresaw  would  perpetuate  the  schism,  and  declared  against 
it,  and  that  he  had  acted  accordingly,  and  would  not  have 
it  laid  at  his  door,  having  made  a  recess  (as  he  says)  for  a 
much  more  worthy  person:  and  he  apprehends  it  was 
always  the  judgment  of  his  brethren,  that  the  death  of  the 
canonical  bishops  would  render  the  invaders  canonical,  in 
regard  the  schism  is  not  to  last  always.'  Afterwards  his 
lordship  adds  this  :  '  I  presume  Mr.  Dodwell,  and  others 
with  him,  go  to  church,  though  I  myself  do  not,  being  a 
public  person  :  but  to  communicate  with  my  successor  in 
that  part  of  the  ofiSce  which  is  unexceptionable,  I  should 
make  no  difficulty.' 

"  This  letter  I  communicated  to  Mr.  Dodwell  when  in 
town,  which  he  thought  clear  enough  for  closing  the 
schism,  and  I  suppose  in  a  short  time  he  may  have  one 
to  the  same  purpose." 


BROKESBY.  131 

On  the  5th  of  March,  Brokeshv  writes  to  a  gentleman 
on  the  same  subject  for  Dodwell,  whose  weak  sight  at  that 
time  prevented  him  from  writing  himself.  He  cites 
Ken's  answer  to  Dodwell,  the  same  in  substance  as  that 
to  Nelson.     It  was  as  follows  : 

"  In  that  you  are  pleased  to  ask  me,  whether  I  insist 
on  my  episcopal  claim  ?  my  answer  is,  that  I  do  not :  and 
that  I  have  no  reason  to  insist  on  it,  in  regard  that  I 
made  cession  to  my  present  most  worthy  successor  :  who 
came  into  the  fold  with  my  free  consent  and  approbation. 
As  for  any  clandestine  claim,  my  judgment  was  always 
against  it :  and  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  it,  foreseeing 
that  it  would  perpetuate  a  schism,  which  I  found  very 
afflicting  to  good  people  scattered  in  the  country,  where 
they  could  have  no  divine  offices  performed." 

Brokesby  adds : 

"  We  are  here  satisfied  the  schism  is  at  an  end,  when 
there  is  no  altar  against  altar,  nor  any  other  Bishops  but 
Suffi-agans  to  require  our  subjection.  And  therefore  we 
go  all  to  church." 

Much  correspondence  took  place  at  this  period  between 
the  Nonjurors,  since  many  dissented  from  Dod well's  view. 
Brokesby,  as  well  as  Dodwell,  enters  largely  upon  the 
subject.  In  a  letter  of  October  1 9th,  1710,  he  thus 
writes  : 

"  That  we  could  not  communicate  with  the  present 
possessors  fonnerly  because  there  was  altar  against  altar ; 
which  cannot  now  be  said  :  that  we  could  not  communi- 
cate with  them  while  our  excellent  fathers  were  alive  : 
that  these  might  if  they  had  pleased  have  ordained 
bishops  into  vacant  sees  :  that  this  was  not  done,  (which 
alone  could  have  hindered  it)  and  hence  upon  the  death  of 
our  deprived  fathers  a  right  accnied  to  the  present  posses- 
sors, there  being  none  else  who  could  justly  challenge  it : 
that  when  our  deprived  fathers  consecrated  other  bishops, 
they  capacitated  them  to  perform  episcopal  functions,  gave 
them  a  right  to  ordain  others,  and  hereby  a  power  to  pre- 
vent the  failure  of  this  order,  which  might  otherwise  be 


132  BROKESBY. 

feared  as  in  Scotland :  and  they  might  have  commissioned 
them  to  exercise  their  episcopal  offices  :  but  they  could 
not  commission  them  to  do  it  after  their  deaths,  the  com- 
mission determining  with  the  life  of  their  commissioner, 
nor  could  give  them  right  to  act  in  full  sees." 

Brokesby  alludes  to  a  report,  that  the  deprived  bishops 
agreed  that  a  power  was  given  the  new  bishops,  that  is, 
Hickes  and  Wagstaff,  equal  to  that  of  the  Bishop  of  Nor- 
wich, and  that  it  was  to  be  exercised  after  the  death 
of  the  bishops.  He  says  in  reply:  "It  can  hardly  be 
imagined  that  those  wise  and  good  men  should  grant  such 
a  power;  in  that  if  they  had  had  a  mind  in  their  life  time 
to  have  closed  the  schism,  this  might  have  precluded  them 
from  doing  it.  But  further,  this  power  could  not  have 
been  granted  without  an  unanimous  consent  of  all  the 
deprived  bishops,  in  that  if  any  one  had  stood  out  this 
would  have  rendered  the  grant  invalid,  because  he  might 
have  insisted  on  his  own  right :  now  we  have  reason  to 
think  that  Bishop  Ken  never  concurred  to  the  grant  of 
such  a  power." 

Another  letter  was  written  by  Brokesby  to  the  same 
party,  dated  18th  November,  1710.  It  appears  that  the 
individual  had  insisted  on  the  right  of  the  deprived 
Bishops  to  appoint  successors.  Brokesby  takes  up  Dod- 
well's  position,  and  contends  that  such  a  grant,  if  made, 
must  be  fully  attested :  and  that  then  the  question 
w'hether  the  deprived  Bishops  had  such  a  power  must  be 
c(msidered.  It  appears  also,  that  during  these  discus- 
sions, the  consecrations  of  Hickes  and  Wagstaffe  were 
fully  made  known  ;  or  at  all  events  they  were  pleaded  in 
the  letter  to  Brokesby.  This  is  certain,  since  Brokesby 
thus  argues : 

"  You  make  this  grant  a  subsequent  act  to  those  per- 
sons being  ordained  suffragan  Bishops,  and  to  be  a  synod- 
ical  decree  of  our  deprived  Fathers.  Admitting  the  first, 
their  being  ordained  :  we  insist  on  the  proof  of  the  subse- 
quent grant,  the  enlargement  of  their  power,  and  this  over 
the   whole    Church  of  England.     If  it  was  a  synod ical 


BROMPTON.  133 

determination,  then  let  the  Acta  synodalia  he  produced, 
and  this  under  the  hands  of  the  Bishops,  who  were  mem- 
bers of  the  synod,  according  to  the  forms  used  in  synods." 
He  afterwards  adds  :  "  Suppose  our  deprived  Fathers  had 
intended  to  convey  such  a  power  to  those  worthy  suffra- 
gans, and  agreed  among  themselves  to  do  it :  if  they  did 
not  by  some  formal  act  convey  it,  no  such  power  accrues 
to  them,  neither  can  they,  by  virtue  of  such  an  intention, 
challenge  any  jurisdiction."  Brokesby  therefore  urges  the 
production  of  the  grant  before  its  legality  be  discussed. 
Another  letter  was  written  by  Brokesby  in  lTl-2  ;  but  he 
only  re-asserts  his  previous  arguments.  It  does  not 
appear  that  any  grant,  by  which  Hickes  and  Wagstaffe 
were  authorized  to  act  as  diocesan  Bishops,  was  pro- 
duced :  though  had  such  been  the  case,  it  would  have 
been  of  no  avail,  as  the  deprived  Bishops  possessed  no 
such  power. 

Brokesby  attended  his  friend  Dodwell  in  his  last  hours, 
and  afterwards,  as  has  been  stated  before,  wrote  his  life. 
He  died  suddenly  soon  after  that  publication,  in  1715. 
He  wrote,  besides  the  works  alluded  to, — 1.  K  Life  of 
Jesus  Christ.  2.  A  History  of  the  Government  of  the 
Christian  Church  for  the  three  first  centuries,  and  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  ;  printed  by  W.  B.  1712,  8vo. — 
BroJt'esby's  Life  of  Dodu.eU.  Nichols's  Hist,  of  Hinckley  and 
of  Leicestershire.     Lathhury.     Marshall. 


BROMPTON,    JOHN. 

There  is  a  Chronicle  which  goes  under  the  name  of 
John  Brompton,  Abbot  of  Jorvaulx  in  Yorkshire,  which, 
commencing  with  the  mission  of  Augustine  in  588,  termin- 
ates with  the  death  of  Richard  the  First,  in  1198.  Bishop 
Nicholson  observes  that  it  is  not  probable  that  this  history 
was  written  by  any  member  of  the  abbey  of  Jorvaulx,  since 
it  takes  no  notice  of  the  foundation  of  that  monastery.  He 
supposes  that  Abbot  Brompton  only  procured   the   Chro- 


lU  BROUGHTON. 

nicle  and  bestowed  it  on  the  monastery.  It  is  only  as 
the  author  of  this  Chronicle  that  the  name  of  Brompton 
is  known.  The  author  is  very  full  of  his  collections  for 
the  Saxon  times,  but  takes  no  notice  of  the  chronological 
part  in  the  whole  history  of  the  heptarchy.  In  this  he  has 
not  been  very  inquisitive  :  for  example,  he  concludes  his 
account  of  Northumberland  where  Bede's  history  leaves 
him.  He  gives  the  Saxon  laws  at  large  and  translates 
them,  according  to  Nicholson,  pretty  honestly,  although 
in  what  he  borrows  from  the  old  Chronicle  he  is  not  so 
correct.  Whoever  was  the  author  of  the  Chronicle  it  is 
certain  that  he  lived  after  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
Edward  III.,  as  appears  by  his  digressive  relation  of  the 
contract  between  Joan,  King  Edward's  sister,  and  David, 
afterw^ards  King  of  Scots.  This  historian  has  borrowed 
pretty  freely  from  Hoveden.  His  Chronicle  is  printed  in 
the  "Decem  Script.  Hist.  Angliae,"  Lond.  1652,  folio. — 
Nicholsons  Historical  Library.  Selden  Prcef.  ad  X.  Script. 
Angl.  inter  quos  Brompton. 


BROUGHTON,    HUGH. 

Hugh  Broughton  was  born  at  Oldbury,  in  Shropshire, 
in  1549,  and  was  educated  at  a  school  at  Houghton, 
founded  by  Barnard  Gilpin.  Thence  he  was  sent  to 
Cambridge,  became  one  of  the  fellows  of  Christ's  College, 
and  there  laid  the  foundation  of  his  knowledge  of  Hebrew, 
in  which  he  afterwards  made  such  remarkable  proficiency. 
His  application  and  learning  soon  rendered  him  very  con- 
spicuous at  the  university,  and  also  attracted  the  notice 
of  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  who  became  a  liberal  patron 
to  him,  and  greatly  encouraged  him  in  his  studies.  He 
was  considered  to  be  the  best  oriental  scholar  in  the 
world.  He  was,  however,  reluctant  to  take  holy  orders,  as 
he  well  might  be,  for  he  seems  never  to  have  brought  his 
pride  and  temper  under  the  controul  of  religion.  It  was 
at  Archbishop  Whitgift's   solicitation  that  he  at   length 


BROUGHTON.  135 

consented  to  be  ordained,  the  archbishop  suggesting  that  if 
he  refused  it  would  be  supposed  that  he  was  opposed  to 
the  doctrine  of  Episcopacy.  "Divers  years  after,"  says 
Strype,  "  he  endeavoured  to  obtain  a  prebend  in  St. 
Paul's,  London,  to  read  the  lecture  there,  (if  I  mistake 
not:)  and  in  order  to  that,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  said 
Lord  Treasurer,  reminding  him  of  his  former  intercession 
for  the  procuring  him  Nassington  But  Mr.  Broughton's 
carriage  was  so  haughty,  and  his  temper  so  rigid  and  so 
censorious,  that  however  affected  x\rchbishop  Whitgift 
was  towards  him,  he  got  do  preferment  in  the  Church ; 
which  soured  his  disposition  more  and  more,  especially 
towards  Archbishop  Whitgift." 

Notwithstanding  his  faults  he  became  a  popular 
preacher  in  London,  where  he  obtained  the  patronage  of 
some  persons  of  high  rank :  he  still  however  prosecuted 
his  studies  with  unremitting  assiduity,  and  the  result 
appeared  in  a  work,  called  The  Concent  of  Scriptures, 
which  was  published  in  1584  or  1585,  with  a  dedication 
to  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  work  gave  rise  to  much  con- 
troversy, and  is  thus  alluded  to  by  Strype  in  his  Life  of 
Archbishop  Whitgift :  "  He  affirmed,  (which  was  the  pur- 
pose of  his  whole  book,)  that  the  book  of  God  had  so  great 
an  harmony,  that  every  part  of  it  might  be  known  to 
breathe  from  one  Spirit.  And  in  this  book  he  made  use, 
he  said,  of  all  the  ancient  Hebrews  and  Greeks.  And  in 
another  epistle  of  his  to  the  Queen,  describing  this  book, 
he  wrote,  that  the  sum  thereof  was,  '  That  God  had 
recorded  the  world  s  age  from  the  promise  of  redemption 
unto  His  performance  of  it.'  " 

"  Divers  years  after,  reflecting  upon  his  Concent,  thus 
he  represented  it ;  '  That  little  book,  that  drew  all  the 
Scripture  unto  Christ,  and  shewed  the  use  of  every  parcel 
of  it,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end :  carrying  half  a  score 
of  several  hard  and  needful  studies  thither ;  and  ex- 
amining all  authors,  not  only  in  their  own  tongues,  but 
their  own  vein  and  course  of  study.'  Notwithstanding 
the   great  character  and  opinion  the   author  had   of  his 


136  BROUGHTON. 

work,  it  seemed  so  odd  a  piece,  that  it  came  out  at  first 
with  great  prejudice  :  that  even  the  Archbishop  himself 
said  of  it  to  the  Queen,  that  '  it  contained  but  the  curious 
quirks  of  a  youDg  head.'  Which  speech  coming  to 
Broughton's  ears,  being  an  haughty  conceited  man,  he 
printed  this  severe  animadversion  thereupon :  '  If  the 
prelate  i^said  he)  had  studied  one  and  thirty  years,  ever 
since  he  was  doctor,  how  in  one  speech  to  shew  himself 
extremely  void  of  all  grounds  of  learning,  and  of  all  con- 
science for  the  truth,  and  of  all  care  whose  ears  to  infect 
with  atheism  ;  the  tempter  could  hardly  cany  him 
Ei^wypr/xEvov  into  parts  more  injurious  to  all  holy  writers.'" 

The  work  was  in  1589  strongly  opposed  by  Dr.  Rey- 
nolds  at  Oxford,  and  Broughton  wrote  several  tracts  in 
vindication  of  his  own  opinions ;  and  the  controversy 
between  these  two  divines  seems  to  have  excited  much 
interest,  not  only  in  the  university  but  in  London  and 
throughout  the  country.  A  meeting  between  them  was  at 
one  time  effected,  when  Reynolds  admitted  that  he  had 
not  studied  these  matters,  and  promised  to  yield  if  he 
saw  reason  for  doing  so.  They  agreed  in  1591  to  submit 
the  subject  in  dispute  to  the  arbitration  of  Archbishop 
Whitgift,  and  it  appears,  from  a  letter  from  Broughton  to 
the  Vice-chancellor  of  Oxford,  that  the  censure  of  the 
archbishop  was,  "  that  never  any  human  pains  was  of 
greater  travail  and  dexterity;  that  against  1500  years' 
errors,  to  clear  the  holy  story,  as  the  Book  of  Concent  had 
done."  But  the  Archbishop's  private  judgment  would  not 
serve  Broughton's  turn,  (so  weighty  he  esteemed  the 
matter,  as  well  as  his  own  reputation,)  but  he  solicited  the 
Queen  herself,  "  that  she  would  enjoin  the  Archbishop  to 
make  his  censure  public.  And  that  then  upon  her 
Majesty's  commandment  it  would  be  surer  ;  for  the  better 
strengthening  of  her  Majesty's  subjects  in  love  and 
honour  of  holy  Scripture  :  which  had  been  greatly  weak- 
ened by  Dr.  R.  calling  matters  in  question,  &c.  And  for 
vindicating  a  truth  for  the  clearing  of  those  sacred  books : 
adding,  that  the  cause  was  not  his,  but  the  Church's." 


BROUGHTON.  137 

His  work  was  opposed  not  only  at  Oxford,  but  at  Cam- 
bridge. He  was,  therefore,  induced  to  read  lectures  in 
defence  of  his  performance,  which  he  did  first  in  St. 
Paul's  and  afterwards  in  a  large  room  in  Cheapside,  and 
in  Mark-lane. 

During  part  of  the  time  of  his  controversy  with 
Reynolds,  Broughton  was  abroad.  He  had  gone  to  Ger- 
many in  1589,  and  staid  some  time  at  Frankfort,  where 
he  had  a  long  dispute  in  the  Jewish  synagogue  with 
Rabbi  Elias,  on  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion.  He 
appears  to  have  been  very  solicitous  for  the  conversion  of 
the  Jews ;  and  his  taste  for  R^abbinical  and  Hebrew 
studies  naturally  led  him  to  take  pleasure  in  the  conver- 
sation of  those  learned  Jews  whom  he  occasionally  met 
with.  In  the  course  of  his  travels,  he  had  also  disjDutes 
with  the  Papists,  but  in  his  contests  both  with  them  and 
with  the  Jews,  he  was  not  very  attentive  to  the  rules 
either  of  prudence  or  politeness. 

In  1594,  after  his  return  to  England,  he  was  involved 
in  a  new  controversy  by  An  Explication  of  the  Article  of 
Christ's  Descent  into  Hell.  He  strongly  opposed  the 
Genevan  doctrine  upon  this  point:  the  minds  of  the 
Archbishop  and  some  others  among  our  leading  eccle- 
siastics, had  not  been  made  up  upon  the  subject,  and 
Broughton  took  the  view  which  is  now  generally  adopted 
by  Anglicans.  But  his  violent  temper  and  want  of  all 
Christian  courtesy  always  placed  him  in  the  wrong.  He 
was  always  seeking  preferment,  and  violent  beyond  all 
precedent  in  his  expressions  of  disappointment  when  he 
found  that  Archbishop  Whitgift,  although  at  one  time  his 
friend,  would  neither  do  any  thing  for  him  himself  nor 
advise  the  Queen  to  promote  him.  His  anger  scarcely 
knew  any  bounds  when,  in  1597,  Dr.  Bancroft  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  see  of  London.  He  said  that  he  had  had 
a  promise  of  llhat  bishopric  from  some  of  the  Lords  of  the 
Council ;  and  it  may  have  been  so;  but  they  could  hardly 
have  advanced  so  impassioned  a  man  to  so  important  a 

VOL.  III.  N 


im  BROUGHTOK 

post.  Every  one  admitted  his  learning,  but  his  violence, 
pride,  and  vanity  were  intolerable. 

In  1597  he  was  in  Germany  again,  and  published  a 
piece  called  The  Sinai  Sight,  which  he  dedicated  to  the 
Earl  of  Essex.  He  appears  to  have  continued  abroad  till 
the  death  of  Queen  Elizabeth ;  and  during  his  residence 
in  foreign  countries,  cultivated  an  acquaintance  with 
Scaliger,  Raphelengius,  Junius,  Pistorius,  Serrarius,  and 
other  eminent  and  learned  men.  He  was  treated  with 
particular  favour  by  the  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  to  whom 
he  dedicated  his  translation  of  the  prophets  into  Greek  ; 
and  it  is  said  that  he  was  also  offered  a  cardinal's  hat,  on 
condition  of  his  embracing  the  Roman  Catholic  religion. 
He  returned  to  England  soon  after  the  accession  of  King 
James  I. 

Broughton  had  always  been  a  vehement  advocate  for  a 
new  translation  of  the  Bible,  to  which  Archbishop  Whit- 
gift  had  been  opposed,  being  unwilling  to  throw  suspicion 
on  the  then  authorized  version,  called  the  Bishop's  Bible. 
Broughton,  with  his  usual  violence  had  opposed  Whitgift, 
and  had  attacked  the  Bishop's  Bible  with  such  acrimony, 
that,  w^ien,  in  160T,  the  present  authorized  version  was 
commenced,  of  which  the  Bishop's  Bible  was  to  be  the 
basis,  Broughton,  to  his  own  indignation  and  that  of  his 
friends,  was  not  employed.  Broughton,  with  his  usual 
confidence,  however,  took  it  upon  himself  to  advise  the 
King  how  to  proceed,  and  suggested  rules  and  directions 
for  tiie  translators  which.,  if  ado[)ted,  would  have  rendered 
his  own  exclusion  scarcely  possible,  for  he  was  certainly 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  Hebraists  of  the  age.  In 
one  of  his  letters  to  the  King  he  told  him,  "  that  his 
highness  had  begun  a  royal  work,  in  commanding  that  a 
good  translation  of  the  Bible  should  be  made,  if  with 
equal  care  and  authority  his  highness  required  all  that 
learning  could  do  to  be  performed,  and  saw  ft  done.  And 
then  this  one  book  would  match,  he  said,  whole  libraries 
for  all   hooks,   (except  the  original  Bible,)  as  the  Pope's 


BROUGHTON.  139 

library,  the  French  King's,  the  Palatine,  the  Bavarian, 
with  that  of  Augsburgh.  Adding,  that  all  would  not 
profit  so  much  as  one  translation  from  exquisite  learning, 
care,  and  furniture."  And  then  directing  how  it  should 
be  gone  upon,  '*  That  many  should  translate  a  part.  And 
when  they  had  brought  a  good  English  style,  and  the 
true  sense,  a  new  labour  others  should  take  to  make  an 
uniformity  [i.  e.  that  divers  words  might  not  be  used 
where  the  original  word  was  the  same  ;  that  so  the  whole 
translation  might  agree.]  And  that  if  seventy- two  persons 
w^re  set  to  translate,  in  memory  of  the  ancient  seventy- 
two  Greek  translators ;  and  many  to  try  how  uniformity 
was  kept;  and  after  all,  one  qualified  for  difficulties  [mean- 
ing, as  it  seems,  himself]  should  run  through  the  whole 
^vork,  and  should  read  upon  the  places  of  difficulty,  in 
Gresham  College,  to  be  judged  of  all  men ;  and  after  all, 
-should  print  from  Hebrews  and  Greeks,  notes  of  his 
strength  ;  and  in  all  the  realm,  even  Papists  should  have 
for  the  first  impression  (made  for  a  trial)  free  speech :  it 
would  be  a  mighty  help  to  understand  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  Testaments^  and  win  great  credit  among  nations 
near  us.  He  added,  that  it  was  very  needful,  that  many 
others  [mechanics  and  artificers]  should  be  likewise  at 
such  a  work,  &c.  embroiderers  should  help  for  terms  about 
Aaron's  ephod  :  geometricians,  carpenters,  masons,  about 
the  Temple  of  Solomon  and  Ezekiel :  gardeners,  for  all 
the  boughs  and  branches  of  Ezekiel's  tree ;  to  match  the 
variety  of  the  Hebrew  terms." 

Broughton  had  translated  the  prophetical  writings  into 
Greek,  and  the  Apocalypse  into  Hebrew.  He  was  desirous 
of  translating  the  whole  New  Testament  into  Hebrew, 
which  he  thought  would  have  contributed  much  to  the 
conversion  of  the  Jews,  if  he  had  met  with  proper  encour- 
agement. And  he  relates  that  a  learned  Jew  with  whom 
he  conversed,  once  said  to  him,  "  O  that  you  would  set 
over  all  your  New  Testament  into  such  Hebrew  as  you 
speak  to  me,  you  should  turn  all  our  nation," 

Broughton  soon  after  returned  to   the  Continent,  and 


140  BROUGHTON. 

during  his  stay  there,  he  was  for  some  time  preacher  to 
the  English  at  Middleburgh.  But  finding  his  health 
dedine,  he  returned  to  England  in  November,  1611.  He 
lodged  in  Loudon  during  the  winter,  at  a  friend  s  house 
in  Cannon-street ;  but  in  the  spring  he  was  removed,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  air,  to  the  house  of  another  friend,  at 
Tottenham  High  Cross,  where  he  died  on  the  4th  of 
August,  161-2. 

Most  of  his  works  were  collected  together,  and  printed 
at  London  in  1662,  under  the  following  title, — The 
Works  of  the  great  Albionean  Divine,  renowned  in  many 
Nations  for  rare  Skill  in  Salem's  and  Athens'  Tongues, 
and  familiar  Acquaintance  with  all  llabbinical  Learning, 
Mr.  Hugh  Broughton.  This  edition  of  his  works,  though 
bound  in  one  large  volume,  folio,  is  divided  into  four 
tomes.  Many  of  his  theological  MSS.  are  preserved  in 
the  British  Museum,  of  which  a  list  is  given  in  Ayscough's 
catalogue. — From  Strype's  Life  of  TVhitgift,  and  the  Biog. 
Brit.  " 

BRUUGHTON,    RICHARD. 

KicHARD  Broughton  was  born  at  Great  Stukely,  in 
Huntingdonshire,  and  educated  at  Oxford ;  but  apostatiz- 
ing from  the  Church  of  England,  he  afterwards  went  to 
the  English  College  at  Rheims.  In  1593  he  took  orders, 
after  which  he  became  a  missionary  in  England.  He  died 
in  1634.  His  works  are — 1.  An  Ecclesiastical  History  of 
(Treat  Britain,  folio,  1633.  2.  A  true  Memorial  of  the 
Ancient,  Holy,  and  Religious  State  of  Great  Britain^ 
1650,  octavo.  3.  Monasticon  Britannicum,  1655,  octavo. 
— Wood.    Bod.    Fuller. 

BROUGHTON,  THOMAS. 

Thomas  Broughton  was  born  in  London  in  1704.  He 
was  educated  at  Eton,  from  whence  he  removed  to  Gon- 
ville  and  Caius  College,  Cambridge,  where  he  proceeded 


BROUGHTON.  141 

to  his  degree  of  master  of  arts.  In  1T39  he  was  instituted 
to  the  rectory  of  Stibington  in  Huntingdonshire,  soon 
lifter  which  he  was  chosen  reader  at  the  Temple  Church, 
where  he  gained  the  favour  of  Bishop  Sherlock,  who  in 
1744  gave  him  the  vicarage  of  Bedminster,  and  St.  Mary 
Eedcliffe,  Bristol,  with  a  prebend  in  the  cathedral  of 
Salisbuiy.  He  died  at  Bristol  in  1774.  Mr.  Broughtou 
was  one  of  the  writers  of  the  great  Historical  Dictionary, 
and  the  Biographia  Britannica ;  besides  which  he  pub- 
lished,— 1.  Christianity  distinct  from  the  Religion  ^tif 
Nature,  in  three  parts,  in  answer  to  Christianity  as  Old 
as  the  Creation.  2.  Translation  of  Voltaire's  Temj^le 
of  Taste.  8.  Preface  to  his  Father's  Letter  to  a  Roman 
Catholic.  4.  Alteration  of  Dorrel  on  the  Epistles  and 
fxospels  from  a  Popish  to  a  Protestant  Book,  -2  vols. 
8vo.  5.  Part  of  the  new  edition  of  Bayle's  Dictionary, 
in  English,  corrected,  with  a  Translation  of  the  Latin 
and  other  Quotations.  6.  Jarvis's  Don  Quixote,  the  lan- 
guage thoroughly  altered  and  corrected,  and  the  poetical 
parts  new  translated.  7.  Translation  of  the  Mottoes  of 
the  Spectator,  Guardian,  and  Freeholder.  8.  Original 
Poems  and  Translations,  by  John  Dryden,  Esq.,  now 
first  collected  and  published  together,  2  vols.  9.  Trans- 
lation of  the  Quotations  in  Addison's  Travels,  by  hiin 
left  untranslated.  10.  The  First  and  Third  Olynthiacs, 
and  the  Four  Philippics  of  Demosthenes  (by  several 
hands),  revised  and  corrected  ;  with  a  new  Translation  ot 
the  Second  Olynthiac,  the  Oration  De  Pace,  and  that  De 
Chersonese;  to  which  are  added,  all  the  Arguments  of 
Libanius,  and  Select  Notes  from  Ulpian,  8vo.  Lives  in 
the  Biographia  Britannica.  11.  The  Bishops  of  London 
and  Winchester  on  the  Sacrament,  compared.  12.  Her- 
cules, a  musical  drama.  13.  Bibliotheca  Historico-Sacra, 
an  Historical  Dictionary  of  all  Religions,  from  the  Crea- 
tion of  the  World  to  the  present  Times,  1756,  two  vols, 
folio.  14.  A  Defence  of  the  commonly  received  Doctrine 
of  the  Human  Soul.  15.  A  Prospect  of  Futurity,  in  fouv 
n2 


14^  BROWN. 

Dissertations,  with  a  Preliminary  Discourse  on  the  Natural 
and  Moral  Evidence  of  a  Future  State. — Biog.  Brit. 

BROWEE,  CHRISTOPHER. 

Christopher  Brower  was  born  at  Arnheiin,  in  1559, 
He  became  a  member  of  the  College  at  Cologne,  in  1580, 
where  he  was  distinguished  for  his  talents.  He  taught 
philosophy  at  Treves,  was  afterwards  rector  of  the  College 
ofFulde,  and  chiefly  employed  at  his  leisure  hours  in 
composing  his  works,  which  procured  him  the  esteem  of 
many  men  of  learning,  especially  Cardinal  Baronius,  who 
often  mentions  him  in  his  Annals  of  the  Church  in  terms 
of  high  commendation.  He  died  in  1617.  He  published 
an  edition  of  Venantius  Fortunatus,  with  notes  and  addi- 
tions, Cologne,  16'24,  4to;  Scholia  on  the  Poems  of 
Rabanus  Maurus,  in  vol.  vi.  of  the  works  of  Maurus  ; 
Antiquitates  Fulclenses,  1619,  4to;  Sidera  Illustrium  et 
S.  S.  Virorum  qui  Germaniam  Rebus  Gestis  ornarunt, 
Mentz,  1616,  4to;  Historia  Episcopomm  Trevirensiuin, 
&c.,  Cologne,  16*26.  He  had  also  a  principal  hand  in  the 
Antiquities  and  Annals  of  Treves,  1626,  2  vols  folio,  and 
reprinted  1670  ;  but  some  antiquaries  are  of  opinion 
that  in  his  anxiety  to  give  correct  copies  of  certain  ancient 
documents,  he  took  liberties  with  the  originals  which  tend 
to  lesson  the  authority  of  his  transcripts. — Moreri. 


BROWN,    ROBERT. 

Robert  Brown,  the  celebrated  founder  of  the  Inde- 
pendents or  Congregationalists,  was  born,  according  to 
Heylin,  at  Tolthorp,  in  the  county  of  Rutland.  Some 
authorities  make  Northampton  the  place  of  his  birth.  But 
it  is  certain  that  his  family  was  settled  at  Tolthorp,  and 
was  nearly  allied  to  that  of  Lord  Burleigh.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  Corpus  Christi  College,   commonly  called  Bennet 


BROWN.  143 

College,  in  the  University  of  Cambridge.  It  does  not  ap- 
pear that  he  graduated  there,  but  he  frequently  preached 
and  with  great  vehemence,  which  the  followers  of  Cart- 
wright,  who  claimed  him  for  their  own.  attributed  to  zeal. 
But  Brown  soon  outstripped  his  guide.  Cavtwright  held 
the  lucrative  and  exalted  station  of  jNIargaret  Professor, 
and  though  willing  to  bring  others  to  his  own  level,  he 
did  not  desire  to  annihilate  an  establishment  but  only  to 
deface  from  it  all  the  vestiges  of  Catholicism,  and  to  bring 
in  Presbyterianism. 

Brown  carried  out  the  puritanical  principles  to  their 
full  extent  :  he  declaimed  against  the  government  of 
Christ's  Holy  Church  as  antichristian  :  her  Sacraments 
he  affirmed  were  defiled  with  superstition;  her  liturgy 
was  reviled  as  Popish,  and  in  some  parts,  heathenish, 
and  her  ordinations  he  asserted  to  be  no  better  than 
those  of  Baal's  priests  among  the  Jews. 

Not  able  to  abide  any  longer  in  a  church  he  thought 
so  corrupt,  he  went  to  Zealand,  and  joined  a  Cougre- 
gation  at  Middleburgh  formed  on  C arf.v right  s  model  ; 
but  this  did  not  satisfy  him,  and  he  determined  to 
have  a  Congregation  entirely  of  his  own  formation.  In 
1582  he  published  a  book,  entitled,  "A  Treatise  of 
Reformation,"  and  having  sent  as  many  of  them  to 
England  as  might  serve  his  turn,  he  returned  to  this 
country  soon  after  to  reduce  his  theory  to  practice. 
His  chief  positions  were, — That  every  congregation  of 
Christian  men  constitutes  a  Church,  of  which  all  the 
members  are  equal,  and  are  competent,  jure  divino,  to 
instruct  and  govern  themselves.  He  thus  equally  rejected 
the  jurisdiction  of  Bishops,  and  that  of  synods,  which  the 
Puritans  regarded  as  the  supreme  visible  source  of  ecclesi- 
astical authority  ;  neither  did  he  allow  any  distinctive  or  in- 
delible character  to  ministers  of  religion.  Every  member  of 
the  Church  had  a  vote  in  all  matters  of  religion ;  and  it  was 
thus  that  ministers  were  made  and  unmade,  as  expediency 
or  caprice  might  require.  As  a  single  congregation  con- 
stituted a  church,  so  the  power  of  their  officers  was  defined 


144  BROWN. 

by  its  limits ;  they  had  no  authority  to  administer  the 
sacraments  to  any  but  those  of  their  own  society.  More- 
over, all  being  equal,  a  lay  brother  might  officiate  as 
pastor  ;  and  it  was  usual  for  some  of  them,  after  sermon, 
to  ask  questions,  and  to  reason  upon  the  doctrines  of  the 
preacher. 

The  Dutch  had  a  clmrch  at  this  time  at  Norwich  more 
numerous  than  any  church  or  congregation  within  the 
precincts  of  the  city,  many  of  whom,  says  Heylin,  "  in- 
clining to  the  opinions  of  the  Anabaptists,  were  willing  to 
embrace  any  doctrines  which  seemed  to  hold  conformity 
wdth  that  sect.  Amongst  them  Brown  begins,  and  first 
begins  with  such  amongst  them  as  were  most  likely  to  be 
ruled  and  governed  by  him ;  he  being  of  an  imperious 
nature,  and  much  offended  with  the  least  dissent  or  con- 
tradiction, when  he  had  uttered  any  paradox  in  his  dis- 
courses. Having  gotten  into  some  authority  amongst  the 
Dutch,  whose  language  he  had  learned  when  he  lived  in 
Middleburgh,  and  grown  into  a  great  opinion  for  his 
zeal  and  sanctity,  he  began  to  practise  with  the  English ; 
using  therein  the  service  and  assistance  of  one  Richard 
Harrison,  a  country  schoolmaster,  whose  ignorance  made 
him  apt  enough  to  be  seduced  by  so  weak  a  prophet.  Of 
each  nation  he  began  to  gather  churches  to  himself,  of  the 
last  especially ;  inculcating  nothing  more  to  his  simple 
auditors,  than  that  the  Church  of  England  had  so  much 
of  Rome,  that  there  was  no  place  left  for  Christ,  or  His 
holy  Gospel.  But  more  particularly  he  inveighed  against 
the  government  of  the  Bishops,  the  ordination  of  minis- 
ters, the  offices,  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  public  Liturgy, 
according  as  it  had  been  taught  out  of  Cartwright's  books ; 
descending  first  to  this  position.  That  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land was  no  true  and  lawful  church ;  and  afterwards  to 
this  conclusion,  that  all  true  Christians  were  obliged  to 
come  out  of  Babylon,  to  separate  themselves  from  those 
impure  and  mixed  assemblies,  in  which  there  was  so  little 
of£hrist's  institution  ;  and  finally,  that  they  should  join 
themselves  to  him  and  to  his  disciples,  amongst  whom  there 


BROWN.  145 

was  nothing  to  be  found  which  favoured  not  directly  of  the 
Spirit  of  God ;  nothing  of  those  impurities  and  profana- 
tions of  the  Church  of  England.  Hereupon  followed  a 
defection  from  the  Church  itself;  not  as  before  amongst 
the  Presbyterians,  from  some  offices  in  it.  Brown's  fol- 
lowers (who  from  him  took  the  name  of  Brownists)  refusing 
obstinately  to  join  with  any  congregation  with  the  rest  of 
tlie  people,  for  hearing  the  word  preached,  the  Sacraments 
administered,  and  any  public  act  of  religious  worship." 

His  attacks  upon  the  Church  being  extremely  virulent, 
he  was  convened  before  the  Bishop  of  Norwich,  and 
other  ecclesiastical  commissioners ;  and  on  his  defending 
his  schism  with  great  insolence,  he  was  committed  to 
the  custody  of  the  Sheriff  of  Norwich.  His  relation.  Lord 
Burleigh,  however,  interceded  with  the  Bishop  for  him, 
on  the  ground  that  his  excesses  proceeded  from  mistaken 
zeal  rather  than  confirmed  malice  ;  and  having  procured 
his  enlargement,  sent  him  to  Whitgift,  xlrchbishop  of 
Canterbury,  for  admonition  and  council.  In  1585  he 
was  again  cited  to  appear  before  Archbishop  Whitgift,  and 
being  brought  by  this  j^i'elate's  judicious  management  to 
assume  an  apparent  conformity  to  the  Church  of  England, 
the  Lord  Treasurer  Burleigh  sent  him  to  his  father  in  the 
country,  with  a  letter  recommending  him  to  his  favour 
and  countenance.  Brown's  errors,  however,  had  taken  too 
deep  root  in  him  to  be  easily  eradicated  ;  he  soon  relapsed 
into  his  former  errors,  and  his  good  old  father  resolving 
not  to  own  him  for  his  son  who  would  not  own  the  Church 
of  England  for  his  mother,  dismissed  him  from  his  family. 
After  wandering  up  and  down  the  country  for  some  time, 
and  enduring  great  hardships.  Brown  at  length  settled  at 
Northampton ;  but  while  he  was  industriously  labouring 
to  establish  his  sect,  Linsell,  Bishop  of  Peterborough,  sent 
him  a  citation,  which  Brown  not  obeying  he  was  excom- 
municated for  his  contempt.  The  solemnity  of  this  cen- 
sure affected  him  so  deeply,  that  he  soon  after  made  his 
submission,  and  receiving  absolution  was  re-admitted  into 
the  communion  of  the  Church  about  the  vear  1 590,  and  was 


4 


f 


146  BROWN. 

soon  after  preferred  to  the  rectory  of  Achurch  near  Thrap- 
stone,  in  Northamptonshire.  Fuller,  who  in  his  boyhood 
knew  him,  is  of  opinion,  that  Brown  never  formally 
recanted  his  errors,  with  regard  to  the  main  points  of  his 
doctrine ;  but  that  his  promise  of  a  general  compliance 
with  the  Church  of  England,  improved  by  the  countenance 
of  hivS  patron  and  kinsman,  the  Earl  of  Exeter,  prevailed 
upon  the  Archbishop,  and  procured  this  extraordinary 
favour  for  him.  He  adds,  that  Brown  allowed  a  salary 
for  a  curate,  and  though  he  opposed  his  parishioners  in 
judgment,  yet  agreed  in  taking  their  tithes.  Brown  was 
a  man  of  good  parts  and  some  learning,  but  was,  according 
to  Fuller,  of  a  nature  imperious  and  uncontrollable,  so  far 
from  the  Sabbatarian  strictness,  afterwards  espoused  by 
some  of  his  followers,  that  he  rather  seemed  a  libertine 
therein.  In  a  word,  says  Fuller,  he  had  a  wife  with 
whom  he  never  lived,  and  a  church  in  which  he  never 
preached,  though  he  received  the  profits  thereof:  and,  as 
all  the  other  scenes  of  his  life  were  stormy  and  turbulent, 
so  was  his  end  ;  for  the  constable  of  his  parish,  who  was 
his  god-son,  requiring  somewhat  roughly  the  payment  of 
certain  rates,  his  passion  moved  him  to  blows,  of  which 
the  constable  complained  to  justice  St.  John,  who  was 
inclined  rather  to  pity  than  punish  him  ;  but  Brown 
behaved  with  so  much  insolence,  that  he  was  simt  to 
Northampton  gaol,  on  a  feather  bed  in  a  cart,  being  very 
infirm,  and  aged  above  eighty  years ;  where  he  soon  after 
sickened  and  died,  anno  1630,  after  boasting  that  he  had 
been  committed  to  thirty-two  prisons,  in  some  of  which  he 
could  not  see  his  hand  at  noon-day. 

The  chief  of  Brown's  writings  are  contained  in  a  thin 
quarto  volume,  in  three  pieces,  printed  at  Middleburgh  in 
158-2.  The  first  is  entitled,  A  Treatise  of  Reformation, 
without  tarrying  for  any  man,  &c.  The  second  is,  A 
Treatise  on  the  Twenty-third  chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  &c. 
The  third,  A  Book  w^hich  showeth  the  Life  and  Manners 
of. all  True  Christians,  &c.  A  controversy,  in  1599, 
between  Francis  Johnson,   a    Brownist,    and   H,   Jacob, 


BROWN.  147 

throws  great  light  upon  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the 
Brownists.  From  this  work  we  subjoin  a  list  of  what 
tlie  early  Independents  regarded  as  the  "  Anti-chiistian 
abominations  yet  retained  in  England." 

1.  The  confusion  of  all  sorts  of  people  in  the  body  of 
their  (the  English)  Church ;  even  the  most  polluted,  and 
their  seed  being  members  thereof.  It  then  enumerates 
all  the  officers  and  ministers  of  the  Church,  from  the 
Archbishop  down  even  to  the  sexton  and  organ  blower,  all 
of  them  of  the  anti-christian  and  viperous  generation. 
2.  Their  ministration  of  the  Word,  Sacraments,  and 
government  of  the  Church  by  virtue  of  the  officers  afore- 
said. The  Brownists  held  that  the  evil  life  of  the 
minister  took  away  the  efficacy  of  the  Sacraments.  The 
titles  of  Primate,  Metropolitan,  Lords,  Grace,  Lordship, 
&c.  ascribed  to  the  prelates.  3.  The  inferior  Prelates 
swearing  obedience  to  the  metropolitical  sees  of  Canterbury 
and  York.  4.  The  inferior  ministers  when  they  enter  into 
the  ministry,  promising  obedience  to  the  Prelates,  and 
their  ordinances  ;  and  when  they  are  inducted  to  beuefices, 
confirming  it  with  their  oath.  5.  The  Deacon's  and 
Priest's  presentation  to  a  Lord  Bishop  by  an  Archdeacon. 
6.  Their  receiving  of  orders  of  the  Prelates  or  their  suf- 
fragans. 7.  Their  pontifical,  or  book  of  consecrating 
Bishops,  and  of  ordering  Priests  and  Deacons,  taken  out 
of  the  Pope's  pontifical,  where  their  abuse  of  Scripture  to 
that  end,  their  Collects,  Epistles,  &c.  may  be  seen.  8. 
Their  making,  and  being  made,  Priests,  with  blasphemy ; 
the  Prelates  saying  to  whom  they  make  Priests,  Pieceive 
ye  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  sins  ye  forgive,  they  are  for- 
given, &c.  9.  Their  confounding  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
offices  and  authorities  in  ecclesiastical  persons.  10.  Their 
retaining  and  using  in  their  public  worship,  the  apocry- 
phal books,  which  have  in  them  divers  errors,  untruths, 
blasphemies,  and  contradictions  to  the  canonical  Scrip- 
tures. 11.  Their  stinted  Prayers  and  Liturgy,  taken  out 
of  the  Pope's  mass  book,  with  the  same  order  of  Psalms, 
Lessons,  Collects,   Pater  Nosters,  Epistles,  Gospels,  Ver- 


148  BROWN. 

sides,  Responds,  &c.  The  Brownists,  in  general,  rejected 
all  set  forms  of  prayer,  and  held,  that  the  Lord's  Praj'er 
ought  not  to  be  used  as  a  prayer,  in  its  present  form  of 
words,  being  only  intended  as  a  model  whereon  our  ex- 
tempore prayers  are  to  be  formed.  12.  The  Cross  in 
Baptism.  13.  The  hallowed  font,  questions  to  the  infants 
at  Baptism.  14.  The  godfathers  and  godmothers  pro- 
mising that  the  child  doth  believe,  forsake  the  devil  and 
all  his  works,  &c.  15.  Women's  baptizing  of  children; 
which  maintaineth  that  heresy,  that  the  children  are 
damned,  which  die  unbaptized.  They  would  not  allow 
any  children  to  be  baptized,  whose  parents  were  not  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  or  of  such  as  did  not  take  sufficient 
care  of  the  education  of  those  formerly  baptized.  16.  Their 
houseling  of  the  sick,  and  ministering  the  communion  to 
one  alone.  17.  The  ministering  it,  not  with  the  words  of 
Christ's  institution,  but  with  others  taken  out  of  the 
Pope's  Portuis.  18.  They  sell  that  Sacrament  for  two- 
pence to  all  comers.  19.  The  receiving  of  it  kneeling, 
which  maketh  it  an  idol,  and  nourisheth  that  heresy  of 
receiving  their  Maker,  of  worshiping  it,  &c.  The  reason 
of  our  kneeling  at  the  Sacrament,  is  explained  in  the 
Rubric  at  the  end  of  the  Communion  Service,  for  which 
purpose  it  was  inserted  there  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI. 
20.  Their  ring  in  marriage,  making  it  a  sacramental  sign, 
and  marriage  an  ecclesiastical  action  :  thereby  nourishing 
the  Popish  heresy,  that  matrimony  is  a  Sacrament.  They 
looked  upon  matrimony  as  a  political  contract,  and  there- 
fore said,  that  the  confirmation  of  it  ought  to  come  from 
the  Civil  Magistrate ;  and  hence  they  condemned  the 
solemn  celebration  of  marriages  in  the  Church.  21.  Their 
praying  over  the  dead,  making  it  also  a  part  of  the  minis- 
ter's duty,  and  nourishing  the  heresy  of  prayer  for  the 
dead.  22.  Their  churching  or  purifying  of  women,  then 
also  abusing  that  Scripture,  The  Sun  shall  not  burn 
them  by  day,  nor  the  Moon  by  night.  23.  Their  Gang 
week,  and  praying  then  over  the  corn  and  grass.  At  the 
time  of  the  Reformation,  when  processions,  which  made  a 


BROWN.  140 

part  of  the  solemnities  at  this  season,  were  abolished,  l.y 
reason  of  the  abuse  of  them,  yet,  for  retaining  the  per- 
ambulation of  the  circuits  of  parishes,  it  was  enjoined, 
'  that  the  people  should  once  a  year,  at  the  accustomed 
time,  with  the  minister  and  substantial  men  of  the  parish, 
walk  round  the  parish  as  usual,  and  at  their  return  to 
Church,  make  the  common  prayers :  provided  that  the 
minister,  at  certain  convenient  places,  shall  admonish  the 
people  to  give  thanks  to  God  for  the  increase  and  abund- 
ance of  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  repeating  the  103rd  Psalm  ; 
at  which  time  also  the  minister  shall  inculcate  tliis  and 
such  like  sentences  :  Cursed  be  he  that  removeth  his 
neighbours  land-mark.'  No  such  prayers  indeed  have 
been  since  appointed  :  but  there  is  an  Homily,  divided 
into  four  parts  ;  the  three  first  to  be  used  on  the  ^Monday, 
Tuesday,  and  Wednesday ;  and  the  fourth  upon  the  day 
when  the  pra-ish  make  their  procession.  ;i4.  Their  for- 
bidding of  marriage  in  Gang  week,  in  Advent,  in  Lent, 
and  on  all  the  Ember  days  ;  which  the  Apostle  calleth  a 
doctrine  of  Devils,  1  Tim.  iv.  1,  "2,  3.  "25.  Their  saints', 
angels',  and  apostles'  days,  with  their  prescript  service.  '2Q. 
Their  fasts,  and  abstaining  from  flesh,  on  their  eves,  on 
Fridays,  Saturdays,  Ember  Days,  and  all  Lent  through. 
U7.  Their  dispensations  from  the  Prelates'  courts  of  Facul- 
ties, to  eat  fltsh  at  these  times ;  which  dispensations  also 
have  this  wholesome  clause  in  them,  sana  conscientia, 
that  is,  with  a  safe  conscience  :  plainly  shewing  that  they 
make  it  a  matter  of  conscience.  This  is  another  doctrine 
of  Devils,  noted  in  the  Scripture  before  alleged,  1  Tim.  iv. 
28.  Their  dispensations  in  like  manner  to  marry  in  the 
times  among  the  forbidden,  which  are  noted  before.  29. 
Licenses  from  the  same  authority,  to  marry  in  places  ex- 
empt. 30.  Dispensations  also  from  thence,  for  boys  and 
ignorant  fools  to  have  benefices.  3L  Dispensations  also 
for  non-residents.  32.  For  having  tv.o,  three,  four,  or 
more  benefices,  even  tot,  quot,  that  is  to  say,  as  many  as 
a  man  will  have  and  can  get.    33.  Tolerations.  34.  Patron- 

VOL.  III.  •  0 


150  BROWN. 

ages  of,  and  presentations  to,  benefices,  with  buying  and 
selling  of  advowsons.  35.  Their  institutions  into  bene- 
fices by  the  Prelates,  their  inductions,  proxies,  &c.  36. 
Their  suspensations,  absolutions,  degradations,  depriva- 
tions, &c.  37.  The  Prelates,  Chancellors,  and  Commis- 
sarie's  courts,  having  power  to  excommunicate  alone,  and 
to  absolve.  38.  Their  Penance  in  a  white  sheet.  39.  Their 
commutation  of  Penance,  and  absolving  one  man  for 
another,  40.  The  Prelate's  Confirmation,  or  Bishopping 
of  children,  to  assure  them  of  God's  favour,  by  a  sign  of 
man  s  devising.  41.  The  standing  at  the  Gospel.  42.  The 
putting  off  the  cap,  and  making  a  leg  when  the  word 
Jesus  is  read.  43.  The  ring  of  peals  at  burials.  They 
objected  against  bells,  because  they  pretended  they  were 
consecrated  to  the  service  of  idolatry.  44.  Bead-men  at 
burials,  and  hired  mourners  in  mourning  apparel.  45. 
The  hanging  and  mourning  of  churches  and  hearses  with 
black,  at  burials.  46.  Their  absolving  the  dead,  dying 
excommunicate,  before  they  can  have,  as  they  say,  Chris- 
tian burial.  47.  The  Idol  temples.  48.  The  Popish 
vestments,  as  rochet,  horned  cap,  tippet,  the  sui-plice  in 
parish  churches,  and  cope  in  cathedral  churches.  49.  The 
Visitations  of  the  Lord  Bishops,  and  Archdeacons.  50. 
The  Prelates'  lordly  dominion,  revenues,  and  retinue. 
51.  The  Priests'  maintenance  by  tithes,  Christmas  offer- 
ings, &c.  52.  The  oaths  ex  officio  in  their  ecclesiastical 
courts,  making  men  swear  to  accuse  themselves.  53.  The 
churchwarden's  oath  to  present  to  the  Prelates,  all  the 
offences,  faults,  and  defaults,  committed  in  their  parishes, 
against  their  articles  and  injunctions.  54.  The  Prelates' 
ruling  of  the  Church,  by  the  Pope's  cursed  Canon  Law. 
55.  Finally,  their  imprisoning  and  banishing,  such  as 
renounce  and  refuse  to  witness  these  abominations  afore- 
said, and  the  rest  yet  retained  among  them.  They  might 
well  find  fault  with  the  Church  for  this  last  article,  since 
they  had  smarted  so  severely  under  it. — Heylins  Histonj 
of  Prednjterians.    Fullers  Church  History. 


BROWN.  151 

BRO^-N,  JOHN. 

John  BRO^^^'  was  born  at  Herpoo,  in  the  county  of 
Perth,  in  172Q.  He  was  chosen  pastor  of  a  congregation 
of  seceders  at  Haddington,  where  also  he  conducted  a 
seminary  for  youth.  He  died  in  1787.  His  works  are  : 
1.  The  Self-interpreting  Bible,  '2  vols,  4to.  2.  A  Dicti- 
onary of  the  Bible,  2  vols,  8vo.  3.  Explication  of  Scrip- 
ture Metaphors,  12mo.  4.  History  of  the  Seceders,  ]*2mo. 
5.  The  Christian  Student  and  Pastor,  12mo.  6.  Letters 
on  the  Government  of  the  Christian  Church,  8vo.  7. 
General  History  of  the  Church,  2  vols,  12mo.  8.  Select 
Piemains,  with  his  Life  prefixed. — Watkins. 

BROWN,    JOHN. 

John  Brown  was  born  at  Rothbury,  in  Northumberland, 
in  1715.  He  was  educated  first  at  Wigton,  in  Cumber- 
land, and  next  at  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  where,  in 
1735,  he  took  his  degree  of  B.  A.,  and  two  jeax%  after 
entered  into  orders.  His  first  settlement  was  at  Carlisle, 
where  he  became  minor  canon  of  the  cathedral ;  and  in 
the  rising  of  1745  acted  as  a  volunteer  on  the  Hanoverian 
side.  Dr.  Osbaldiston,  Bishop  of  the  diocese,  made  him 
his  chaplain,  and  the  dean  and  chapter  gave  him  the 
living  of  Morel  and  in  Westmoreland-  His  poem  called 
"  An  Essay  on  Satire,"  addressed  to  Warburton,  brought 
him  acquainted  with  that  writer,  who  introduced  him  to 
Mr.  Allen  at  Prior  Park.  While  here,  he  preached  a 
sermon  at  Bath  against  gaming,  which  had  a  very  great 
effect.  In  1751  appeared  his  Essays  on  Shaftesbury's 
Characteristics,  written  with  elegance.  This  was  his 
chief  work  It  was  suggested  to  him  by  Warburton,  and 
to  Warburton  by  Pope,  who  told  him  that  the  "  Character- 
istics" had  done  more  harm  to  revealed  religion  than  all 
the  Avorks  of  infidelity  put  together.  In  1754  he  obtained 
the  living  of  Great  Horkesley  in  Essex,  and  the  next  year 
his  tragedy  of  Barbarossa  w^as  acted  with  success,   whicli 


152  BROWNE. 

was  followed  by  another  called  Athelstan.  He  now  took 
his  doctor's  degree,  and  in  1757  published  the  first  volume 
of  his  Estimate  of  the  Manners  and  Principles  of  the 
Times,  of  which  seven  editions  were  soon  printed.  The 
year  following  appeared  the  second  volume.  About  this 
time  he  was  presented  to  the  vicarage  of  St.  Nicholas,  in 
Newcastle,  on  which  he  resigned  Great  Horkeslej,  and 
was  appointed  chaplain  in  ordinary  to  the  King.  His 
next  publication  was  the  Cure  of  Saul,  a  sacred  ode  ; 
which  was  followed  by  a  "Dissertation  on  Poetry  and 
Music."  In  17(>4  appeared  "The  History  of  the  Piise 
and  Pr-ogress  of  Poetiy,"  and  the  same  year  he  printed  a 
volume  of  sermons.  In  1765  came  out  bis  "Thoughts  on 
Civil  Liberty,  Licentiousness,  and  Faction  ;"  and  a  sermon 
preached  for  the  benefit  of  the  female  asylum.  In  1766 
he  published  a  letter  to  Dr.  Lowth,  who  had  alluded  to 
hioi  as  one  of  Dr.  Warburton's  sycophants.  He  now 
engaged  to  go  to  Petersburg  to  assist  in  the  regulation 
of  public  schools ;  but  while  preparing  for  the  voyage, 
he  cut  his  throat  in  a  fit  of  insanity,  September  '2S. 
l-iQ(j.—Gen.  DicL 


BROWNE,  GEORGE. 

George  Browne,  celebrated  as  being  the  first  Prelate 
of  the  Church  of  Ireland  who  promoted  in  it  the  cause  of 
tije  Preformation,  was  originally  an  Augustine  friar  of  Lon- 
don, and  had  received  his  academical  education  in  the 
house  belonging  to  his  order  at  Holywell  in  Oxford. 
Having  became  eminent  among  his  brethren,  he  was 
n;ade  provincial  of  that  order  in  England;  and  afterwards 
taking  his  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity,  in  some  foreign 
university,  he  was  incorporated  in  the  same  at  Oxford  in 
1534,  and  at  Cambridge  soon  afterwards.  In  the  follow- 
ing march,  he  was  advanced  by  King  Henry  the  Eighth 
to  the  archbishopric  of  Dublin,  which  had  been  vacant 
since  the  preceding  July.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that   the  interval  had  t>een  employed  in  making  choice  of 


BROWNE.  153 

a  fit  person  for  this  elevated  station,  the  arduoiisness  and 
importance  of  which  were  greatly  enhanced  by  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  time.  An  acquaintance  with  the 
writings  of  Luther,  and  an  attachment  to  the  principles  of 
the  Reformation,  together  with  his  good  personal  qualities, 
recommended  him  to  the  king's  favour  ;  but  his  principal 
patron  was  the  Lord  Privv  Seal,  Cromwell,  who,  under 
the  peculiar  title  of  the  king's  vicegerent  in  ecclesiastical 
matters,  administered  all  the  powers  annexed  to  the  king's 
supremacy  in  England.  Thus  nominated  by  the  royal 
authority,  having  been  elected  to  the  see  by  the  chapters 
of  the  Holy  Trinity  and  St.  Patrick's,  and  having  received 
the  royal  assent  on  the  l'2th  of  March,  before  his  consecra- 
tion, the  mandate  for  which  had  been  issued  the  day  after 
the  royal  assent,  he  was  invested  by  Cranmer,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  and  Fisher  and  Shaxton,  respectively 
Bishops  of  Rochester  and  Salisbury,  according  to  an  act 
then  lately  passed,  with  the  pall  and  other  archiepiscopal 
ensigns ;  and  on  the  23rd  of  March,  writs  w^ere  issued  for 
restoring  to  him  the  temporalities  of  the  see. 

The  Archbishop  soon  found  his  new  seat  of  dignity  to 
be  by  no  means  one  of  repose  and  inaction,  being  promptly 
called  upon  to  take  a  prominent  and  resolute  part  on  the 
question  of  the  supremacy,  as  well  as  on  other  matters 
which  were  judged  to  need  correction  in  the  Churcli.  A 
body  of  commissioners  was  about  this  time  appointed  by 
the  king,  to  confer  with  the  principal  persons  in  the 
country,  for  removing  the  Pope's  authority  from  Ireland, 
and  for  reducing  that  kingdom  to  a  conformity  with 
England  in  acknowledging  the  sovereign  power  of  the 
crown,  whether  in  things  spiritual  or  temporal.  Cromwell, 
the  Lord  Privy  Seal,  who  was  the  principal  miiDister  in  the 
conduct  of  this  affair,  seems  to  have  anticipated  no  serious 
impediment  in  early  arriving  at  a  favourable  result.  But 
the  difiSculties  and  perils  of  the  undertaking  were  soon 
experimcDtally  felt  by  the  Archbishop,  by  whoui  the  insuf- 
ficiency of  the  commission,  the  obstacles  which  it  had  to 
o  -2 


154  BFcOWXE. 

siuraount,  and  the  best  method  of  supplying  its  defect 
and  giving  efficacy  to  the  king's  intention,  were  pointed 
out  in  a  letter  to  his  patron,  of  September  the  6th,  1535, 
which  at  the  same  time  sets  forth  in  a  striking  light  the 
illiteracy  of  the  clergy,  and  the  blind  and  superstitions 
zeal  of  the  people. 

"  My  most  honoured  Lord, 

"Your  humble  servant  receiving  your  mandate,  as  one 
of  his  highness's  commissioners,  hath  endeavoured,  almost 
to  the  danger  and  hazard  of  this  temporal  life,  to  procure 
the  nobility  and  gentry  of  this  nation  to  due  obedience, 
in  owning  of  his  highness  tlieir  supreme  head,  as  well 
spiritual  as  temporal ;  and  do  find  much  oppugning 
therein,  especially  by  my  brother  Armagh,  w^ho  hath  been 
the  main  oppugner,  and  so  withdrawn  most  of  his  suffra- 
gans and  clergy,  with  his  see  and  jurisdiction.  He  made 
a  speech  to  them,  laying  a  curse  on  the  people,  whosoever 
should  own  his  highness's  supremacy :  saying  that  this 
isle,  as  it  is  in  their  Irish  Chronicles,  Insula  Sapra,  be- 
longs to  none  but  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  that  it  was 
the  Bishop  of  Rome's  predecessors  gave  it  to  the  king's 
ancestors.  There  be  two  messengers  by  the  priests  of 
Armagh,  and  by  that  Archbishoi^,  now  lately  sent  to  the 
Bishop  of  Rome. 

"  Your  Lordship  may  inform  his  highness,  that  it  is 
convenient  to  call  a  parliament  in  this  nation  to  pass 
the  supremacy  by  act;  for  they  do  not  much  matter 
his  highness's  commission,  which  your  Lordship  sent  us 
over. 

"  This  island  hath  been  for  a  long  time  held  in  ignor- 
ance by  the  Romish  orders.  And  as  for  their  secular 
orders,  they  be  in  a  manner  as  ignorant  as  the  people, 
being  not  able  to  say  mass,  or  pronounce  the  words,  they 
not  knowing  what  they  themselves  say  in  the  Roman 
tongue.  The  common  people  of  this  island  are  more 
^iealous  in  their  blindness,  than  the  saints  and  martyrs 


BROWNE.  155 

were  in  the  truth  at  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel.  I  send 
Tou,  mv  very  good  Lord,  these  things,  that  your  Lordship 
and  his  highness  may  consult  what  is  to  be  done.  It  is 
feared  O'Neil  will  be  ordered  by  the  Bishop  of  Rome  to 
oppose  your  Lordship's  orders  from  the  King's  highness  : 
for  the  natives  are  much  in  numbers  within  his  po\\ers. 
I  do  pray  the  Lord  Christ  to  defend  your  LordshijD  from 
your  enemies." 

In  pursuance  of  the  Archbishop's  advice,  a  Parliament 
was  holden  at  Dublin  in  the  spring  of  the  year  1587, 
under  Leonard  Lord  Gray,  the  Lord  Deputy. 

Confidential  communications  from  the  King's  ecclesias- 
tical Vicegerent  most  probably  made  known  what  mea- 
sures would  be  acceptable  to  the  King,  x^nd  hereupon  a 
bill  was  introduced  for  enacting,  "  that  the  King,  his 
heirs  and  successors,  should  be  the  supreme  head  on 
earth  of  the  Church  of  Ireland,  and  should  have  power 
and  authority,  from  time  to  time,  to  visit,  reform,  restrain, 
and  amend  all  such  errors,  heresies,  abuses,  offences, 
contempts  and  enormities,  whatsoever  they  be.  which  by 
any  manner,  spiritual  authority,  or  jurisdiction,  ought  or 
may  lawfully  be  reformed,  restrained,  or  amended,  most 
to  the  pleasure  of  Almighty  God,  the  increase  of  virtue  in 
Christ's  religion,  and  for  the  conservation  of  peace,  unity, 
and  tranquillity  of  this  land  of  Ireland  ;  any  usage, 
custom,  foreign  laws,  foreign  authority,  prescription,  or 
any  other  thing  or  things  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing." 

Another  bill  was  introduced  for  taking  away  all  appeals 
to  Rome  in  spiritual  causes,  and  referring  all  such  ap- 
] teals  to  the  crown;  and  another,  specifically  "against 
the  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  ;"  recounting  the 
various  mischiefs,  temporal  and  spiritual,  which  attended 
the  usurped  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  by  some 
called  the  Pope,  and  the  necessity  of  excluding  such 
foreign  pretended  power,  forbidding  all  persons,  on  pain 
of  premunire,  to  extol  or  maintain,  by  writing  or  any  act. 


156  BROWNE. 

the  authority,  jurisdiction,  or  power  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome  within  this  realm  ;  giving  order  to  the  justices  of 
assize  and  of  peace,  to  inquire  of  offences  against  this 
act,  as  of  other  offences  against  the  King  s  peace  ;  com- 
manding all  Archbishops,  Bishops,  and  Archdeacons, 
their  commissaries,  vicars-general,  and  other  their  minis- 
ters, to  make  inquiry  of  such  eeclesiastical  persons  as 
offend  ;  imposing  an  oath  of  supremacy  on  all  ecclesiasti- 
cal and  lay  officers  ;  and  enacting  that  an  obstinate  refusal 
so  to  do,  be,  and  be  punished  as,  high  treason. 

The  jDassing  of  these  bills,  in  assertion  of  the  King's 
supremacy,  and  in  contradiction  and  to  the  annihilation 
of  the  Pope's,  was  attended  with  much  difficulty,  espe- 
cially from  the  opposition  of  many  spiritual  peers.  But 
the  foresight  which  had  dictated  the  measure  was  not 
wanting  in  energy  to  enforce  it ;  and  the  occasion  called 
forth  from  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin  the  following  speech, 
distinguished  more  for  its  straightforwardness,  brevity, 
and  decision,  than  for  deep  argument  or  rhetorical 
display. 

"  My  Lords  and  Gentry  of  his  Majesty's  kingdom  of 
Ireland, 
"  Behold,  your  obedience  to  your  King  is  the  observ- 
ing of  your  Lord  and  Saviour  Christ ;  for  He,  that  High 
Priest  of  our  souls,  paid  tribute  to  Ceesar,  though  no 
Christian.  Greater  honour  then  surely  is  due  to  your 
prince,  his  highness  the  King,  and  a  Christian  one. 
Rome  and  her  Bishops,  in  the  Fathers'  days,  acknow- 
ledged emperors,  kings,  and  princes  to  be  supreme  over 
their  dominions,  nay  Christ's  vicars ;  and  it  is  much  to 
the  Bishop  of  Rome's  shame  to  deny  what  their  precedent 
Bishops  owned.  Therefore  his  highness  claims  but  what 
he  can  justify  the  Bishop  Eleutherius  gave  to  St.  Lucius, 
the  first  Christian  King  of  the  Britons ;  so  that  I  shall, 
without  scrupling,  vote  his  highness  King  Henry  ray 
supreme,  over  ecclesiastical  matters  as  well  as  temporal, 
and  head  thereof,  even  of  both  isles,   England  and   Ire- 


BROWNE.  157 

land ;  and  that  without  guilt  of  conscience,  or  sin  to  God. 
And  he  who  will  not  pass  this  act,  as  I  do,  is  no  true  sub- 
ject to  his  highness." 

This  speech  of  the  Archbishop  was  seconded  by  Jus- 
tice Brabazon  ;  and  whether  the  assembly  was  invited  by 
his  example,  or  won  by  his  reasoning,  or  controlled  by 
his  firmness,  or  startled  by  his  denunciation,  the  bills 
overcame  all  opposition,  and  were  passed  into  laws. 

In  the  same  Parliament  several  other  acts  were  passed, 
which  had  reference  to  ecclesiastical  property,  and  mate- 
rially affected  the  Church  and  the  clergy. 

The  act  for  first  fruits,  taking  for  its  j^recedent  a  similar 
act  in  England,  enacted  that  all  2:>ersons,  nominated  to  any 
ecclesiastical  preferment,  should  pay  to  the  King  the  pro- 
fits for  one  year,  to  whomsoever  the  foundation,  pationage, 
or  gift  belong. 

Another  vested  in  him  the  first-fruits  of  abbeys,  priories, 
and  hosjDitals :  a  previous  act  having  provided  for  the 
suppression  of  thirteen  religious  houses  by  name  ;  for  the 
assurance  of  pensions  to  the  Abbots  during  their  respec- 
tive lives,  and  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  possessions  by 
the  patentees,  to  whom  the  King  should  have  granted 
them. 

Another  ordained,  that  the  twentieth  part  of  the  profit 
of  all  spiritual  promotions  be  paid  yearly  to  the  King  for 
ever  :  an  enactment  so  well  pleasing  to  the  King,  that  he 
sent  a  particular  letter  of  thanks  to  the  Lords  spiritual 
for  the  grant. 

Another  prohibited  the  payment  of  Peter-pence  pen- 
sions, and  other  impositions,  to  the  Bishop  or  see  of 
Piome,  and  the  procuring  of  dispensations,  licenses,  and 
faculties  from  thence;  and  authorized  the  granting  of 
them  by  commissioners  appointed  by  the  King,  in  the 
same  manner  as  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in 
England. 

By  another  act  of  the  same  Parliament,  for  encouraging 
"  the  English  ord^r,  habit,  and  language,"  spiritual  pro- 
motions were  directed  to  be  given  "  only  to  such  as  could 


158  BROWNE. 

speak  English,  unless,  after  four  proclamations  in  the  next 
market  town,  such  could  not  be  had."  And  an  oath  was 
to  be  a(hninistered  to  "  such  as  take  orders,  and  to  such 
as  are  instituted  to  any  benefice,  that  he  would  endeavour 
to  learn  and  teach  the  English  tongue  to  all  and  every 
being  under  his  rule  ;  and  to  bid  the  beads  in  the  Eng- 
lish tongue,  and  preach  the  word  of  God  in  English,  if 
he  can  preach  ;  and  to  keep  or  cause  to  be  kept  within 
his  parish  a  school  for  to  learn  English,  if  any  children 
of  his  parish  come  to  him  to  learn  the  same,  taking  for 
the  keeping  of  the  same  school  such  convenient  stipend 
or  salary  as  in  the  same  land  is  accustomably  used  to  be 
taken." 

Archbishop  Browne  was  now  fairly  at  the  head  of  the 
movement  party.  The  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  Lord  Pri- 
mate, was  the  leader  of  the  conservatives,  and  was  strongly 
opposed  to  his  brother  of  Dublin.  To  such  opposition  an 
additional  stimulus  was  doubtless  given  by  the  endea- 
vours, made  at  the  same  time  by  the  Archbishop  of  Dub- 
lin, for  abolishing  the  false  objects  of  Romish  worship 
from  the  churches  within  his  jurisdiction.  His  two 
cathedrals  in  particular,  as  there  has  been  already  occa- 
sion to  observe,  abounded  with  these  symbols  of  corrup- 
tion. In  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  or  Christ's 
Church,  the  reliques  and  statues  were  innumerable  ;  and 
in  the  walls  of  St.  Patrick's  a  multitude  of  niches  had 
been  furnished  by  the  superstition  of  the  times  with 
images  of  saints  These  endeavours  were  about  coincident 
in  time  with  similar  proceedings  carried  on  under  the 
royal  authority  in  England ;  and  the  Archbishop  acted 
under  the  like  authority,  which  had  been  recently  acknow- 
ledged in  Ireland  by  the  late  statutes,  having  received 
instructions  from  the  Lord  Cromwell  to  that  effect.  But 
in  executing  these  instructions  he  was  met  with  opposi- 
tion, not  only  from  the  Primate,  but  from  those  who  were 
next  in  authority  to  himself  within  his  own  diocese  ; 
namely,  the  Prior  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
Bobert  Castele,  alias  Payneswick,  and  Edward  Bassenet, 


BROWNE.  159 

Dean  of  St.  Patrick,  who  were  tempted  by  the  emolu- 
ments accruing  from  those  superstitious  objects  of  venera- 
tion to  resist  the  King  and  the  x\rchbishop,  and  to  seek 
support  in  their  resistance  from  the  Pope. 

Notwithstanding  the  zeal  of  Archbishop  Browne  for  the 
establishment  of  the  royal  prerogative  he  seems,  for  some 
cause  not  apparent,  to  have  fallen  this  time  under  the 
displeasure  of  the  capricious  tyrant  whom  he  served,  and 
from  whom  he  received  an  angry  letter.  The  Archbishop 
vindicated  his  conduct,  and  the  matter  dropped. 

In  the  meantime  commissioners  had  been  appointed 
by  the  government  to  enquire  into  the  state  of  the  king- 
dom, who  held  inquests  relative  to  the  several  counties 
and  towns  which  they  visited.  Besides  the  complaints 
against  the  laity  some  were  preferred  against  the  clergy, 
and  these  serve  to  shew  the  state  of  the  Irish  establish- 
ment at  that  period.  Undue  fees  were  exacted  by  the 
Bishops  and  their  officials  for  the  probate  of  wills,  and 
for  judgment  in  matrimonial  and  other  causes.  Various 
priests  were  charged  with  extortion  in  the  fees  demanded 
for  baptisms,  for  weddings,  for  the  purification  of  women, 
and  for  burials.  Some  are  accused  for  taking  portion 
canon,  which  is  explained,  in  one  parish,  to  have  been  the 
taking,  on  a  man's  death,  of  his  best  array,  arms, 
sword,  and  knife ;  and  the  same,  even  on  the  death  of  a 
wife  during  her  husband's  life  :  in  another  parish,  to  have 
been  the  taking  from  the  husband,  on  his  wife's  death, 
of  the  fifth  penny,  if  his  goods  were  under  twenty  shil- 
lings ;  and  five  shillings,  if  above  that  amount :  and  in  a 
third  parish,  the  taking  of  one  penny  three  farthings  in 
the  shilling.  Some  parsons,  abbots,  and  priors,  were 
charged  with  not  singing  mass,  though  they  took  the  pro- 
fits of  their  benefices  :  and  the  jury  of  Clonmell  charged 
several  of  the  regular  priests  in  that  part  with  keeping 
lemans  or  harlots,  and  having  wifes  and  children. 

We  have  a  further  description  of  the  state  of  the  Irish 
clergy   in    a   letter    from    Archbishop    Browne    himself, 


160  BROWNE. 

written  on  the  3th  of  April,   1538,  to  the  Lord  Cromwell 
himself. 

"  Right  honourable  and  my  singular  good  Lord, 

"  I  acknowledge  my  bounden  duty  to  your  Lordship's 
good-will  to  me,  next  to  my  Saviour  Christ's,  for  the  place 
I  now  possess ;  I  pray  God  give  me  His  grace  to  execute 
the  same  to  His  glory,  and  his  Highness's  honour,  with 
your  Lordship's  instructions.  The  people  of  this  nation 
be  zealous,  yet  blind  and  unknowing ;  most  of  the  clergy, 
as  your  Lordship  has  had  from  me  before,  being  ignorant, 
and  not  able  to  speak  right  words  in  the  mass  or  liturgy, 
as  being  not  skilled  in  the  Latin  grammar  ;  so  that  a  bird 
may  be  taught  to  speak  with  as  much  sense,  as  several  of 
them  do  in  this  country.  These  sorts,  though  not 
scholars,  yet  are  crafty  to  cozen  the  poor  common  people, 
and  to  dissuade  them  from  following  his  highness's 
orders  :  George,  my  brother  of  Armagh,  doth  underhand 
occasion  quarrels,  and  is  not  active  to  execute  his  high- 
ness's orders  in  his  diocese.  I  have  observed  your  Lord- 
ship's letter  of  commission,  and  do  find  several  of  my 
pupils  leave  me  for  so  doing.  I  will  not  put  others  in 
their  livings  till  I  know  your  Lordship's  pleasure;  for  it  is 
meet  1  acquaint  you  first,  the  Romish  relics  and  images 
of  both  my  cathedrals  in  Dublin,  of  the  Holy  Trinity  and 
of  St.  Patrick's,  took  ofif  the  common  people  from  the  true 
worship,  but  the  prior  and  the  dean  find  them  so  sweet 
for  their  gain,  that  they  heed  not  my  words :  therefore 
send  in  your  Lordship's  next  to  me  an  order  more  full, 
and  a  chide  to  them  and  their  canons,  that  they  might  be 
removed.  Let  the  order  be,  that  the  chief  governors  may 
assist  me  in  it.  The  prior  and  dean  have  written  to 
Rome,  to  be  encouraged ;  and  if  it  be  not  hindered  before 
they  have  a  mandate  from  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  the  people 
will  be  bold,  and  then  tug  long  before  his  highness  can 
submit  them  to  his  grace's  orders.  The  country  folk  here 
much  hate  your  Lordship,   and  despitefully  call  you  in 


BROWNE.  101 

their  Irish  tongue,  the  blacksmith's  son.  The  Duke  of 
Norfolk  is  by  Armagh  and  that  clergy,  desired  to  assist 
them,  not  to  suffer  his  highness  to  alter  Church  rules 
here  in  Ireland.  As  a  friend,  I  desire  your  Lordship  to 
look  to  your  noble  person  ;  for  Rome  hath  a  great  kindness 
for  that  duke  (for  so  it  is  talked  here)  and  will  reward  him 
and  his  children.  Rome  has  great  favours  for  this  nation, 
purposely  to  oppose  his  highness  ;  and  so  having  got, 
since  the  act  passed,  great  indulgences  for  rebellion,  there- 
fore my  hope  is  lost,  yet  my  zeal  is  to  do  according  to 
your  Lordship's  orders.  God  keep  your  Lordship  from 
your  enemies  here  and  in  England."  Dublin  the  third 
Kalends  April  1538. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  predictions  of  the  Arch- 
bishop were  fulfilled.  In  May,  1538,  he  had  to  convey  to 
Cromwell  the  intelligence  of  the  unjustifiable  and  wicked 
proceedings  of  the  Pope  and  his  party,  in  the  following 
letter : — 

*'  Right  honourable, 

"  My  duty  premised  :  it  may  please  your  Lordship  to 
be  advertised,  sithence  my  last,  there  has  come  to  Armagh 
and  his  clergy,  a  private  commission  from  the  Bishop  of 
Rome,  prohibiting  his  gi'acious  highness's  people,  here  in 
this  nation,  to  own  his  royal  supremacy ;  and  joining  a 
curse  to  all  them  and  theirs,  w^ho  shall  not  within  forty 
days  confess  to  their  confessors,  after  the  publishing  of  it 
to  them,  that  they  have  done  amiss  in  so  doing.  The 
substance,  as  our  secretary  hath  translated  the  same  into 
English,  is  thus  : — 

"  '  I,  A.  B.,  from  this  present  hour  forward,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
mother  of  God,  of  St.  Peter,  of  the  holy  apostles,  arch- 
angels, angels,  saints,  and  of  all  the  holy  host  of  heaven, 
shall  and  will  be  always  obedient  to  the  Holy  See  of 
St.  Peter  of  Ptome,  and  to  my  holy  Lord  the  Pope  of  Rome, 
and  his  successors,  in  all  things,  as  well  spiritual,  as  tem- 

VOL.  III.  p 


16a  BROWNE. 

poral,  not  consenting  in  the  least  that  his  holiness  shall 
lose  the  least  title  or  dignity  belonging  to  the  Papacy  of 
our  mother  Church,  or  to  the  regality  of  St.  Peter. 

"  '  I  do  vow  and  swear  to  maintain,  help,  and  assist 
the  just  laws,  liberties,  and  rights  of  the  mother  Church 
of  Rome. 

"  *  I  do  likewise  promise  to  confer,  defend,  and  promote, 
if  not  personally,  yet  willingly,  as  in  ability  able,  either  by 
advice,  skill,  estate,  money,  or  otherwise,  the  Church  of 
Rome,  and  her  laws,  against  all  whatsoever  resisting  the 
same. 

'•  '  I  further  vow  to  oppugn  all  heretics,  either  in 
making  or  setting  forth  edicts  or  commands,  contrary  to 
the  mother  Church  of  Rome  ;  and  in  case  any  such  to  be 
moved  or  composed,  to  resist  it  to  the  uttermost  of  my 
power,  with  the  first  convenience  and  opportunity  I  can 
possess. 

•' '  I  count  all  acts,  made  or  to  be  made  by  heretical 
powers,  of  no  force,  or  to  be  practised  or  obeyed  by  myself, 
or  any  other  son  of  the  mother  Church  of  Rome. 

'"I  do  further  declare  him  or  her,  father  or  mother, 
brother  or  sister,  son  or  daughter,  husband  or  wife,  uncle 
or  aunt,  nephew  or  niece,  kinsman  or  kinswoman,  master 
or  mistress,  and  all  others,  nearest  or  dearest  relations, 
friend  or  acquaintance  whatsoever,  accursed,  that  either 
do  or  shall  hold,  for  time  to  come,  any  ecclesiastical  or 
civil,  above  the  authority  of  the  mother  Church;  or  that 
do  or  shall  obey,  for  the  time  to  come,  any  of  her  the 
mother  Church's  opposers  or  enemies,  or  contrary  to  the 
same,  of  which  I  have  here  sworn  unto ;  so  God,  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  and  the  holy  Evan- 
gelists, help,  &c..' 

'^  His  highness  the  viceroy  of  this  nation,  is  of  little  or 
no  power  with  the  old  natives ;  therefore  your  Lordship 
will  expect  of  me  no  more  than  I  am  able.  This  nation  is 
poor  in  wealth,  and  not  sufficient  now  at  present  to 
oppose  them.     It  is  obsen'ed  that  ever  since  his   high- 


BROWNE.  163 

ness's  ancestors  had  this  nation  in  possession,  the  old 
natives  have  been  craving  foreign  powers,  to  assist  and 
rule  them.  And  now  both  English  race  and  Irish  be- 
gin to  oppose  your  Lordship's  orders,  and  do  lay  aside 
their  national  old  quarrels,  which  I  fear  will,  if  anything 
will,  cause  a  foreigner  to  invade  this  nation.  I  pray 
God  I  may  be  a  false  prophet ;  yet  your  good  Lordship 
must  pardon  mine  opinion,  for  I  write  it  to  your  Lord- 
ship  as  a  warning." 

This  bull  of  excommunication  from  the  Pope  was  in- 
tended not  to  be  a  mere  brutum  fidmen,  but  to  be  the 
harbinger  of  more  open  and  determined  hostility  against 
the  King  and  his  liege  subjects,  who  dared  to  resist  the 
aggressions  of  the  Papal  tyranny.  About  midsummer  a 
Franciscan  friar,  named  Thady  Birne,  was  apprehended  ; 
and,  having  been  put  into  the  pillory,  was  confined  in 
prison,  until  the  King  s  order  should  arrive  for  his  trans- 
mission to  England.  But  terrified  by  the  report  that  he 
was  to  be  put  to  death,  he  committed  suicide  on  the  24tli 
of  July  in  the  castle  of  Dublin;  and  amongst  other  papers, 
was  found  in  his  possession  the  following  letter  to  O'Neal, 
dated  at  Rome  April  the  28th,  1538,  exciting  him  to  rebel- 
lion in  the  names  of  the  Pope  and  Cardinals,  and  under 
the  signature  of  the  Bishop  of  Metz. 

"  My  son  O'Neal, 

"  Thou  and  thy  fathers  are  all  along  faithful  to  the 
mother  Church  of  Rome.  His  Holiness  Paul,  now  Pof>e, 
and  the  council  of  the  holy  fathers  there,  have  lately  found 
out  a  prophecy  there  remaining,  of  one  St.  Laserianus, 
an  Irish  Bishop  of  Cashel,  wherein  he  saith,  that  the 
mother  Church  of  Rome  falleth,  when  in  Ireland  the 
Catholic  faith  is  overcome.  Therefore,  for  the  glory  of  the 
mother  Church,  the  honour  of  St.  Peter,  and  your  own 
secureness,  suppress  heresy  and  his  holiness's  enemies ; 
for  when  the  Roman  faith  there  perisheth,  the  see  of 
Rome  falleth  also.  Therefore  the  council  of  Cardinals 
have  thought  fit  to  encourage  your  country  of  Ireland  as  a 


164  BROWNE. 

sacred  island  ;  being  certified,  whilst  the  mother  Church 
hath  a  son  of  worth  as  yourself,  and  those  that  shall 
succour  you  and  join  therein,  that  she  will  never  fall ; 
but  have  more  or  less  a  holding  in  Britain,  in  spite  of 
fate. 

"Thus  having  obeyed  the  order  of  the  most  sacred 
council,  we  recommend  your  princely  person  to  the  [care 
of  the]  Holy  Trinity,  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  of  St.  Peter, 
St.  Paul,  and  all  the  heavenly  host  of  heaven. — Amen. 

"  Episcopus  Metensis." 

This  and  the  like  solicitations  to  rebellion  and  treason, 
in  behalf  of  the  Bishop  and  Church  of  Rome,  were  not 
lost  upon  O'Neal,  who  early  in  the  following  year,  declared 
himself  the  champion  of  the  Papacy  ;  or  upon  others  of 
the  Irish  leaders,  to  whom  they  appear  to  have  been  ad- 
dressed, and  who,  engaging  in  a  confederacy,  took  the  field, 
and  committed  great  devastations,  till  they  were  defeated 
by  the  foresight  and  valour  of  the  Lord  Deputy  and  Sir 
William  Brereton.  But,  instead  of  dwelling  on  these 
transactions,  our  business  rather  is  to  relate  that,  notwith- 
standing all  opposition  both  from  within  and  from  without, 
the  reformation  of  the  Church  was  slowly  but  progressively 
advancing,  and  thus  giving  an  earnest  and  opening  the 
w^ay  of  further  improvements. 

In  particular,  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin  at  length  suc- 
ceeded in  the  accomplishment  of  his  design  of  removing 
the  monuments  of  superstition  from  his  two  cathedrals, 
and  from  the  rest  of  the  churches  in  his  diocese  :  and 
especially  the  miraculous  staff  of  St.  Patrick,  which  had 
been  plundered  from  the  cathedral  of  Armagh,  and  pre- 
sented to  that  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  in  Dublin,  in  1180, 
and  had  since  been  treasured  up  as  one  of  its  most  valu- 
able reliques,  was  publicly  committed  to  the  flames  and 
burnt ;  and  the  images  in  general  were  displaced,  and  in 
their  room  were  substituted  the  creed,  the  Lord's-prayer, 
and  the  ten  commandments,  decently  framed  and  orna- 
mented.    About  the  same  time  these  objects  of  idolatrous 


BROWNE.  165 

Vv^orship  elsewhere  were  generally  defaced  or  removed, 
after  the  example  which  had  been  set  in  England.  Thus 
an  image  of  our  blessed  Saviour  on  the  cross,  in  the  abbej 
of  Balljbogan,  in  the  diocese  of  Meath,  which  had  been 
held  in  great  veneration,  was  publicly  destroyed  by  fire  ; 
and  the  same  fate  befell  the  equally  venerated  image  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  in  the  abbey  of  the  canons  regular,  at 
Tiim,  in  the  same  diocese ;  and  the  oblations  and  trea- 
sures, which  many  superstitious  votaries  had  offered  there, 
were  at  the  same  time  taken  and  carried  away. 

But  in  these  latter  instances,  whatever  may  have  been 
the  Archbishop's  good  will  on  the  occasion,  he  appears  to 
have  had  no  concern  in  the  transaction.  He  had  been 
accused,  indeed,  of  such  an  intention  early  in  the  year  in 
which  it  occurred  ;  but  had  defended  himself  against  the 
charge  in  a  letter  to  the  Lord  Privy  Seal,  dated  the  20th 
of  June,  1538  : — "  For  that  I  endeavour  myself,  and  also 
cause  others  of  my  clergy,  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
and  to  set  forth  the  King  s  causes,  there  goeth  a  common 
bruit  among  the  Irishmen,  that  I  intend  to  pluck  down 
our  Lady  of  Trim,  with  other  places  of  pilgrimages,  as  the 
Holy  Cross,  and  such  like ;  which,  indeed,  1  never  at- 
tempted, although  my  conscience  would  right  well  serve 
rae  to  oppress  such  idols.  But  undoubted  they  be  the 
adversaries  of  God's  word,  which  have  kindled  the  same, 
thinking  it  will  be  to  my  reproach,  that  1  pray  God 
amend  them  ;  fearing,  that  all  those  of  this  country,  being 
now  there,  which  feign  themselves  outwardly  to  be  the 
maintainers  of  the  Gospel,  it  is  not  inwardly  conceived  in 
their  hearts." 

Archbishop  Browne's  task  was  by  no  means  an  easy 
one,  the  Lord  Deputy  was  in  heart  a  conservative  and  a 
Romanizer,  and  reports  were  in  circulation  of  vaccilation 
on  the  part  of  the  King  ;  nevertheless  he  proceeded  gene- 
rally by  legitimate  means,  occasionally  by  causing  an  op- 
ponent to  be  imprisoned.  He  was  diligent  in  preaching, 
and  in  order  to   secure  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Royal 

F'2 


166  BROWNE. 

supremacy,  he  put  forth,  under  his  seal  as  ordinary,  a 
form  of  bidding  prayer,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Form  of 
the  Beads,"  to  be  addressed  by  all  the  clergy  to  the  peo- 
ple, directing  them  what  to  pray  for.  In  this  form  the 
phrase  "  Church  of  England  and  Ireland"  is  used,  and 
the  phrase  not  in  the  plural,  "  churches,"  but  in  the  sin- 
gular, "  church,"  occurs  five  times  in  the  course  of  the 
Formulary.  In  this  the  Papal  supremacy  was  denounced, 
and  that  of  the  King  asserted.  It  concluded  with  the 
direction ;  "  For  these  and  for  grace  every  man  say  a 
Pater  noster  and  an  Ave." 

To  this  stretch  of  authority  there  was  much  opposition : 
we  can  easily  understand  the  extreme  violence  to  which 
the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  Ireland  would  be  hurried  at 
the  present  time  by  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  their  rulers 
in  the  opposite  direction,  and  we  must  make  allowance 
for  the  conduct  of  the  clergy  of  the  established  Church 
when  they  were  most  of  them  Romanizers,  and  the  cause 
of  Popery  was  identified  in  men's  minds  with  that  of  con- 
servatism. Archbishop  Browne,  as  we  have  before  ob- 
served, was  not  supported  by  the  Lord  Deputy :  and  to 
what  extent  of  persecution  his  zeal  might  have  hurried 
him,  except  for  the  check  he  received  in  this  quarter,  it  is 
difficult  to  say.  With  reference  to  a  disobedient  clergy- 
man, his  grace  wrote  to  Lord  Cromwell  the  following 
rather  2jettish  letter : 

"  It  may  please  your  Lordship  to  be  advertised,  that  in 
my  last  letter,  directed  unto  your  Lordship,  I  signified 
unto  the  same,  that  for  his  pervicacity  and  negligence  I 
committed  one  Humfrey,  a  prebendary  of  St.  Patrick's, 
unto  ward,  till  time  that  I  knew  further  the  King's  plea- 
sure in  correcting  of  such  obstinate  and  sturdy  Papists  ; 
thinking  that  in  so  doing  I  should  have  been  aided  and 
assisted  by  my  Lord  Deputy  and  the  council.  Howbeit, 
spite  of  my  beard,  yea,  and  to  my  great  rebuke,  whiles 
that  I  was  at  an  house  of  Observants,  to  swear  them,  and 
also  to  extinct  that  name,  naming  them  Conventuals,  my 


BROWNE.  167 

Lord  Deputy  hath  set  him  at  liberty.  (So  doth  his  Lord- 
ship aid  me  in  my  prince's  causes.)  I  think  the  simplest 
holy-water  clerk  is  better  esteemed  than  I  am.  I  beseech 
your  Lordship  in  the  way  of  charity,  either  cause  my 
authority  to  take  effect,  or  else  let  me  return  home  again 
unto  the  cloister.  When  that  I  was  at  the  worst,  I  was 
in  better  case  than  I  am  now,  what  with  my  Lord  De- 
puty, the  Bishop  of  Meath,  and  the  pecuniose  Prior  of 
Kilmainham  (Ptaw^son).  God  send  remedy,  Who  ever  have 
your  Lordship  in  His  safe  tuition.  At  Dublin,  the  "^Oth 
of  May. 

"  Your  Lordship  may  give  credit  unto  this  bearer,  for 
he  is  my  chaplain.  I  have  committed  now  of  late  into 
ward  the  Bishop  of  Meath's  suffragan,  w^hich  in  his 
sermon  prayed,  first  for  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  then  for 
the  Emperor,  and  at  last  for  the  King's  grace,  saying  : — 
'  I  pray  God,  he  never  depart  this  world,  until  that  he 
hath  made  amends.'  What  shall  a  man  think  of  the 
Bishop  that  hath  such  a  suffragan  ?  Howbeit,  I  doubt 
not  but  that  he  shall  be  discharged ;  ask,  and  nought 
believe. 

(Signed.)      "  Georgius  Dublin." 
(Superscribed.) 
"  To  the  Right  Honourable  and  my  most  singular 
good  Lord,  the  Lord  Private  Seal." 

The  allusion  made  in  the  foregoing  letter  to  Staples, 
Bishop  of  Meath,  arose  from  an  unhappy  difference  which 
prevailed  between  the  Archbishop  and  him,  caused  by 
certain  sermons  which  they  had  delivered  in  the  preceding 
Lent,  and  in  which  each  was  said  to  have  maligned  tlie 
other,  on  the  evidence  of  insufficient,  perhaps  slanderous, 
witnesses,  of  whom  Humirey  was  one.  Much  crimination 
and  recrimination  followed,  and  hard  words  were  used  on 
both  sides,  little  creditable  in  truth  to  the  Christian  pro- 
fession, or  the  dignified  station  of  either.  In  the  end, 
articles,  drawn  up  by  each  party,  were  sent  to  the  Lord 
Privy  Seal ;  but  the  dispute  seems  to  have  been  adjusted 


168  BROWNE. 

between  them  by  his  interposition,  without  pronouncing 
on  its  merits. 

In  1538  he  was  one  of  the  privy  council,  who  went  on  a 
visitation  of  four  counties,  for  the  purpose  of  "  aboHshing 
the  Bishop  of  Rome's  usurped  authority  and  extinguish- 
ing idolatry;"  and  his  fellow  commissioners  in  a  letter  to 
the  Lord  Privy  Seal,  express  a  hope  that  '*  it  may  please 
his  Lordship  to  give  thanks  to  my  Lord  of  Dublin  for  his 
pains  and  diligence  he  hath  used  in  his  journey  with  us, 
in  setting  forth  the  word  of  God." 

In  another  letter  written  after  the  return  of  the  com- 
missioners to  Dublin,  and  signed  by  the  Archbishop  as 
vveil  as  his  three  commissioners,  it  is  reported  : — "  At 
Clonmell  was  with  us  two  Archbishops  and  eight  Bishops, 
in  whose  presence  my  Lord  of  Dublin  preached,  in  ad- 
vancing the  King's  supremacy,  and  the  extinguishment 
of  the  Bishop  of  Rome.  And,  his  sermon  finished,  all 
the  said  Bishops,  in  all  the  open  audience,  took  the 
oath  mentioned  in  the  xlcts  of  Parliament,  both  touch- 
ing the  King's  succession  and  supremacy,  before  me, 
the  King's  Chancellor;  and  divers  others  there  present 
did  the  like" 

In  a  letter  from  the  Archbishop  himself  to  the  Lord 
Privy  Seal,  his  Grace  complains  of  the  treatment  he 
received  from  the  conservative  Lord  Deputy,  who  had 
seized  his  house  and  furniture ;  in  the  concluding  para- 
graph he  says  :  "At  such  season  as  your  Lordship's  plea- 
sure shall  be  to  send  hither  authority  ad  causas  ecdesias- 
tlcas,  God  willing,  I  intend  to  travel  the  country  as  far  as 
any  English  is  to  be  understanded  ;  and  where,  as  I  may 
not  be  understanded,  I  have  provided  a  suffragan,  named 
Doctor  Xangle,  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  who  is  not  only  well 
learned,  but  also  a  right  honest  man,  and  undoubtedly 
will  set  forth  as  well  the  word  of  God  as  our  princes 
causes,  in  the  Irish  tongue,  to  the  discharge,  I  trust,  of 
my  conscience.  Which  said  Bishop  was  promoted  to  the 
said  benefice,  by  the  King's  majesty  and  you  ;  and  by 
commandment  of  the  King  s  highness,  and  your  good  Lord- 


BROWNE.  169 

ship,  bj  me  consecrated ;  although  as  now  he  is  expulsed, 
and  a  Rome  runner,  who  came  in  by  provision,  supported 
in  the  same  by  one  IM'WilUam,  a  naughty  traitorous 
person,  governor  of  those  parts,  to  whom  the  said  Doctor 
Xangle,  my  suffragan,  showed  the  King's  broad  seal,  for 
justifying  of  his  authority,  which  the  said  M'Wilham  little 
esteemed,  but  threw  it  away  and  vihpended  the  same. 
Notwithstanding  that,  my  Lord  Deputy  will  see  no  re- 
dress, for  that  his  Lordship  is  so  affectioned  to  the  said 
M 'William,  although  his  Lordship  had  the  King  s  highness 
letters  in  the  favour  of  my  said  suffragan.  Nevertheless 
his  Lordship  did  a  greater  enterprise  than  that,  in  Obrenes 
country.  He  there  deposed  a  Bishop,  which  was  likewise 
promoted  by  the  King's  highness  ;  which  Bishop  was  at 
Clonmell  at  our  last  journey,  and  there  in  presence  of  the 
Lord  Chancellor,  Lord  Treasurer,  Master  Sub-Treasurer, 
and  me,  declared  unto  us  the  truth  thereof.  And,  for 
as  much  as  we  could  perceive,  he  was  a  right  fatherly 
person  ;  and  he,  that  the  Lord  Deputy  hath  now  pro- 
moted to  the  same,  is  a  gray  fiiar,  one  of  the  holy  con- 
fessors of  the  late  Garrantynes,  even  as  rank  a  traditor  as 
ever  they  were.'" 

The  dissolution  of  monasteries  had  commenced  before 
Archbishop  Browne's  time  ;  Archbishop  Alan  had  been 
one  of  Cardinal  Wolsey's  instruments  in  procuring  the 
dissolution  of  forty  of  the  lesser  monasteries.  Subse- 
quently other  abbeys  and  religious  houses  had  been  sup- 
pressed and  their  property  given  to  other  persons,  or 
vested  in  the  crown.  It  is  not  fair  to  charge  the  dissolu- 
tion of  monasteries  entirely  upon  the  Reformers.  Their 
corruption  had  in  many  instances  become  so  great,  that 
the  public  seemed  to  demand  a  diminution  of  their  num- 
ber, as  well  as  a  reformation  in  their  inmates. 

At  this  time  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  was 
vigorously  prosecuted,  and  effected  to  a  large  extent,  but 
not  without  opposition.  That  the  corruptions  were  many 
and  great,  no  one  denied,  but  that  the  wheat  should  be 
consumed   with  the  tares,   many  regretted.      In  1538  a 


170  BROWNE. 

report  was  made  of  a  commission  for  the  suppression  of 
all  abbeys,  which  called  forth  a  recommendation  from  the 
Lord  Deputy  and  council,  that  "  six  houses  should  stand 
and  continue,  changing  their  clothing  and  rule  in  such 
sort  and  order,  as  the  King's  grace  should  will  them : 
which  are  named  St.  Mary  Abbey,  adjoining  to  Dublin,  a 
house  of  white  monks;  Christ's  Church,  a  house  of  canons, 
situate  in  the  midst  of  the  city  of  Dublin ;  the  nunnery 
of  Grace  Dieu,  in  the  county  of  Dublin ;  Connal,  in  the 
county  of  Kildare  ;  Kenlys  and  Gerepont,  in  the  county 
of  Kilkenny.  For  in  those  houses  commonly,  and  other 
such  like,  in  default  of  common  inns,  which  are  not  in 
this  land,  the  King's  deputy,  and  all  other  his  grace's 
council  and  officers,  also  Irishmen,  and  others  resorting 
to  the  King's  deputy  in  their  quarters,  is  and  hath  been 
most  commonly  lodged  at  the  costs  of  the  said  houses. 
Also  in  them  young  men  and  children,  both  gentlemen 
children,  and  other,  both  of  mankind  and  womankind,  be 
brought  up  in  virtue,  learning,  and  in  the  English  tongue, 
and  behaviour,  to  the  great  charges  of  the  said  houses  ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  womankind  of  the  whole  Englishry  of 
this  land,  for  the  more  part,  in  the  said  nunnery,  and  the 
mankind  in  the  other  said  houses.  And  in  the  said  house 
of  St.  Mary  Abbey  hath  been  the  common  resort  of  all 
such  of  reputation,  as  have  repaired  hither  out  of  Eng- 
land. And  in  Christ's  Church,  parliaments,  councils,  and 
the  common  resort,  in  term  time,  for  definitions  of  matters 
by  judges   and  learned  men,  is,  for  the  most  part,  used. 

For  which  causes,   and  others  moved  and 

reasoned  amongst  the  council,  it  was  thought,  the  King's 
most  gracious  pleasure  standing  therewith,  more  for  the 
common  weal  of  this  land,  and  the  King's  honour  and 
profit,  that  the  said  six  houses,  changing  their  habit  and 
rules,  after  such  sort  as  shall  please  the  King's  majesty, 
should  stand,  than  the  profits  that  should  to  the  Kings 
grace  grow  by  their  suppression." 

A  petition  to   the  same   effect,  relative    to   their  own 
house,  was  sent  to  the  Lord  Privy  Seal  by  the  abbot  and 


BROWNE.  171 

convent  of  St.  Mary,  pleading,  amongst  other  things,  that 
"  verily  they  were  but  stewards  and  pun-eyors  to  other 
men's  uses,  for  the  King's  honour:  keeping  hospitality, 
and  many  poor  men,  scholars  and  orphans." 

But  no  concession  appears  to  have  been  made  to  this 
recommendation  and  petition.  Accordingly,  we  find  most 
of  the  superiors  of  the  houses  just  enumerated  in  the  list 
of  those  abbots  and  priors,  who  upon  assurance  of  pensions 
during  their  respective  lives,  as  provided  by  the  late  Act 
of  Parliament,  began  now  to  suiTender  their  religious 
houses  to  the  King.  When  a  voluntary  surrender  of  a 
monastery  was  refused,  compulsory  means  were  enforced 
against  the  recusant,  though  the  entire  suppression  of 
monasteries  in  Ireland  was  not  effected  till  the  reign  of 
James  I. 

In  1539  letters  patents  under  the  privy  seal  were  issued 
to  the  Archbishop  and  others,  appointing  among  other 
things,  "that  they  should  investigate,  inquire,  and  search 
out,  where,  within  the  said  land  of  Ireland,  there  were  any 
notable  images,  or  reliques,  at  which  the  simple  people  of 
the  said  lord  the  King  were  wont  superstitiously.to  meet 
together :  and  wandering  as  on  pilgrimage,  to  walk  and 
stray  about  them,  or  otherwise  to  kiss,  lick,  or  honour 
them,  contrary  to  the  honour  of  God ;  and  that  they 
should  break  in  pieces,  deform,  and  bear  away  the  same  : 
and  thus  with  all  things  pertaining,  annexed,  and  adjoined 
thereto,  they  should  utterly  abolish  them,  so  that  no  fool- 
eries of  this  kind  might  thenceforth  for  ever  be  in  use 
in  the  said  land  or  dominion  of  the  aforesaid  lord  the 
King." 

The  commission  also  directed,  with  respect  to  such 
monasteries  and  religious  houses,  as  w^ere  willingly  sur- 
rendered into  the  hands  of  the  King,  and  thereupon  dis- 
solved, that  the  commissioners  should  take  for  the  King's 
use  and  possession  all  goods,  moveable  things,  and  chat- 
tels, lands,  and  revenues  thereof;  and  sell  and  alienate 
the  same,  except  gold  and  silver  plate,  jewels,  principal 
ornaments,  lead,   and   bells;   and  from  the  proceeds,  and 


17-2  BROWNE. 

also  from  the  revenues  of  the  said  monasteries  and  houses, 
if  the  goods  and  moveables  thereof  were  insufficient, 
should  pay  all  just  debts,  and  all  other  reasonable  charges, 
incidental  to  the  said  monasteries  or  religious  houses.  It 
also  gave  authority  to  the  commissioners,  to  allow  the 
chief  governors  and  heads  of  the  said  houses  such  portion 
of  the  things  aforesaid,  as  might  be  fitting  for  their  rank, 
and  appear  convenient  in  the  commissioners'  discretion. 
And  it  directed  them  to  provide  for  the  sufficient  and 
secure  keeping  of  the  jewels  and  other  moveables  in  their 
custody,  to  the  use  and  behoof  of  the  said  lord  the 
King. 

Under  the  episcopate  of  Dr.  Browne  the  see  of  Dublin 
suffered  considerable  damage  in  its  property,  and,  what 
certainly  tells  against  his  grace,  while  he  was  willing  to 
sacrifice  the  property  of  the  see,  of  which  he  was  only 
steward,  he  sought  indemnification  for  himself.  In  1542 
the  King  having  made  a  grant  of  certain  lands,  which  in 
great  part  belonged  to  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  but 
which  the  Archbishop  was  contented  liberally  to  release  to 
his  majesty,  the  Lord  Deputy  and  council  prayed  the  King 
to  remit  to  him  a  debt  of  £280.,  "  in  respect  of  his  said 
conformity,  and  that  he  hath,  sithence  his  repair  into  this 
your  realm,  sustained  great  charges  in  your  highness' 
service,  and  came  very  poor  to  his  said  promotion,  having 
no  manner  dilapidations  of  the  goods  of  his  predecessor  ; 
Tvhereby  he  shall  not  only  be  the  more  able  to  serve  your 
majesty,  and  be  well  requited  for  his  said  conformity,  but 
also  bind  him,  according  to  his  most  bounden  duty,  to 
pray  to  Almighty  God  for  the  long  preservation  of  your 
most  royal  estate  ;  otherwise  we  think  the  man  shall  not 
be  able  to  pay  your  majesty,  and  live  in  any  honourable 
estate."  The  King  granted  the  prayer  in  the  Archbishop's 
favour :  "  not  doubting  but  he  will  the  better  apply  his 
charge  and  office,  and  provide  that  there  may  be  some 
good  preachers  to  instruct  and  teach  the  people  in  those 
parts.  Willing,  therefore,  you,  our  deputy  and  council, 
t-hat  you  have  a  special  regard  also  to  this  point ;   and  as 


BROWNE.  173 

you  may  provide  that  they  may  learn  by  good  and  catholic 
teaching,  and  the  ministration  of  justice,  to  know  God's 
laws  and  ours  together ;  which  shall  daily  more  and  more 
frame  and  confirm  them  in  honest  living  and  due  obedi- 
ence, to  their  own  benefits,  and  the  universal  good  of  the 
country." 

The  progress  of  the  Reformation  had  been  but  slow  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  VIIL, — more  decided  measures  were 
taken  upon  the  accession  of  Edward  VI,  but  the  Romaniz- 
ing feeling  was  strong  among  both  the  clergy  and  laity  of 
the  Irish  Church.  In  1551  an  order  was  addressed  to 
the  Lord  Deputy,  Sir  Anthony  St.  Leger,  for  introducing 
the  reformed  English  Book  of  Common  Prayer  into  all 
the  Churches  in  Ireland.  The  Common  Prayer  Book  had 
been  ratified  by  the  English  convocation  and  parliament 
in  1549.  In  this  order  it  is  said  that  the  King  had 
"  caused  the  liturgy  and  prayers  of  the  Church  to  be  trans- 
lated" into  English,  intending  by  the  expression  to  guard 
against  the  insinuation  of  the  Romanizers  that  the  book 
was  a  new  book,  or  that  in  attempting  to  reform  there 
was  any  intention  fundamentally  to  change  the  ancient 
Church.     The  order  was  as  follows  : — 

"  Edward,  by  the  gi'ace  of  God,  &c. 

"  Whereas  our  gracious  father,  King  Henry  the 
Eighth,  of  happy  memory,  taking  into  consideration  the 
bondage  and  heavy  yoke  that  his  true  and  faithful  sub- 
jects sustained  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishops  of 
Rome,  as  also  the  ignorance  the  commonalty  were  in,  how- 
several  fabulous  stories  and  lying  wonders  misled  our 
subjects  in  both  our  realms  of  England  and  Ireland, 
grasping  thereby  the  means  thereof  into  their  hands,  also 
dispensing  with  the  sins  of  our  nations  by  their  indulg- 
ences and  pardons  for  gain,  pui^posely  to  cherish  all  ill 
vices,  as  robberies,  rebellions,  thefts,  whoredoms,  blas- 
phemy, idolatry,  &c. :  He,  our  gracious  father,  King 
Henry,  of  happy  memory,  hereupon  dissolved  all  prioiies, 

VOL.  III.  Q 


1T4  BROWNE. 

monasteries,  abbeys,  and  other  pretended  religious  houses, 
as  being  but  nurseries  for  vice  and  luxury,  more  than  for 
sacred  learning :  therefore,  that  it  might  more  plainly  ap- 
pear to  the  world,  that  those  orders  had  kept  the  light  of 
the  Gospel  from  his  people,  he  thought  it  most  fit  and 
convenient,  for  the  preservation  of  their  souls  and  bodies, 
that  the  Holy  Scriptures  should  be  translated,  printed, 
and  placed  in  all  Parish  Churches  within  his  dominions, 
for  his  faithful  subjects  to  increase  their  knowledge  of  God 
and  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  We  therefore,  for  the 
genera]  benefit  of  our  well-beloved  subjects'  under- 
standings, whenever  assembled  and  met  together  in  the 
said  several  Parish  Churches,  either  to  pray  or  hear 
prayers  read,  that  they  may  the  better  join  therein,  in 
unity,  hearts,  and  voice,  have  caused  the  Liturgy  and 
l^rayers,  of  the  Church  to  be  translated  into  our  mother- 
tongue  of  this  realm  of  England,  according  to  the  assem- 
bly of  divines  lately  met  within  the  same  for  that  purpose. 
We  therefore  will  and  command,  as  also  authorize  you, 
Sir  Anthony  Saint  Leger,  Knight,  our  ^dceroy  of  that  our 
kingdom  of  Ireland,  to  give  special  notice  to  all  our  clergy, 
as  well  Archbishops,  Bishops,  Deans,  Archdeacons,  as 
others  our  secular  parish  priests  within  that  our  said  king- 
dom of  Ireland,  to  perfect,  execute,  and  obey  this  our  royal 
will  and  pleasure  accordingly. 

"  Given  at  our  manor  of  Greenwich,  the.  6th  of  Febru- 
arv,  in  the  fifth  year  of  our  reign. 

"E.  R. 

"  To  our  trusty  and  well-beloved  Sir  Anthony  Saint 
Leger,  Knight,  our  chief  governor  of  our  kingdom  of 
Ireland." 

The  first  step  taken  by  the  viceroy  on  receiving  this 
order,  and  before  he  proceeded  to  notify  it  by  a  general 
proclamation,  was  to  call  together  an  assembly  of  the 
Archbishops  and  Bishops,  and  of  the  clergy  of  Ireland,  on 


BROWNE.  175 

tlie  1st  of  March,  1551  :  and  to  acquaint  them  with  his 
majesty's  order,  as  also  with  the  opinioDS  of  those  Bishops 
and  clergy  of  England  who  had  acceded  to  the  order.  And 
he  thereupon  told  them,  that  "  it  was  his  majesty's  will 
and  pleasure,  consenting  unto  their  serious  considerations 
and  opinions,  then  acted  and  agreed  on  in  England,  as  to 
ecclesiastical  matters,  that  the  same  be  in  Ireland  so  like- 
wise celebrated  and  performed." 

To  this  communication  of  the  Lord  Deputy  an  answer 
was  returned  by  the  primate.  Archbishop  Dowdall,  who 
promptly  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity,  the  first 
which  seems  to  have  occurred,  in  ^  general  meeting  of  the 
Prelates  and  clergy  of  the  kingdom,  since  his  elevation, 
for  oppugning  the  royal  authority,  and  testifying  his  zeal 
for  the  Pope,  and  discrediting  the  proposed  improvement 
in  religious  worship.  He  accordingly  expressed  himself 
in  strong  terms  opposed  to  the  provision  caused  by  the 
King  to  be  made,  and  now  set  forth  by  his  authority  :  he 
contended  against  the  Liturgy,  that  it  might  not  be  read 
or  sung  in  the  church :  and  he  accompanied  his  opposi- 
tion with  the  contemptuous  reflection,  substituting  the 
word  "mass"  for  "service,"  "  Then  shall  every  illiterate 
fellow  read  mass." 

The  Primate's  reflection  was  readily  met  by  the  Lord 
Deputy,  who  made  a  judicious  and  sufficient  reply;  briefly 
alleging  where  the  charge  of  illiteracy  properly  rested,  and 
propounding  one  incontrovertible  argument  in  favour  of 
a  form  of  prayer  in  the  vernacular  tongue,  as  mutually 
intelligible  both  to  the  minister  and  to  the  people.  "  No," 
said  he,  "  your  grace  is  mistaken  ;  for  we  have  too  many 
illiterate  priests  amongst  us  already,  who  neither  can  pro- 
nounce the  Latin,  nor  know  what  it  means,  no  more  than 
the  common  jDeople  that  hear  them  ;  but  when  the  people 
hear  the  Liturgy  in  English,  they  and  the  priest  will  then 
understand  what  they  pray  for." 

The  Primate  seems  to  have  felt  the  force  of  the  appeal, 
for  he  did  not  attempt  to  refute  it ;  but  adopting  a  course 
which  is  no  unusual  substitute  for  argument  with  those 


176  BROWNE. 

who  are  sensible  of  tlie  weakness  of  their  cause,  he  had 
recourse  to  the  language  of  menace  and  intimidation,  and 
bade  the  viceroy  "  beware  of  the  clergy's  curse."  And 
indeed,  in  so  doing,  he  was  only  following  the  instruc- 
tion and  example  of  his  acknowledged  lord  and  mastei', 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  in  his  commission  to  his  subjects 
in  King  Henry  the  Eighth's  reign,  and  was  adopting 
the  usual  practice  of  the  papal  authorities  on  similar 
occasions. 

The  cautionary  charge,  however,  was  lost  on  the  vice- 
roy. "  I  fear  no  strange  curse,"  said  he,  "  so  long  as  I 
have  the  blessing  of  that  Church  which  I  believe  to  be  the 
true  one." 

"Can  there  be  a  truer  Church,"  the  Archbishop  there- 
upon demanded,  "  than  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  the 
mother  Church  of  Rome  ?" 

"  I  thought,"  returned  the  Lord  Deputy,  "  we  had  all 
been  of  the  Church  of  Christ;  for  He  calls  all  true 
believers  in  Him  His  Church,  and  Himself  the  head 
thereof." 

The  Archbishop  again  demanded,  "And  is  not  St. 
Peter's  church  the  Church  of  Christ  ?" 

To  which  the  Lord  Deputy  calmly  replied,  "  St.  Peter 
was  a  member  of  Christ's  Church  ;  but  the  church  was  not 
St.  Peter's ;  neither  was  St.  Peter,  but  Christ,  the  head 
thereof." 

Thus  ceased  this  very  remarkable  altercation.  For  the 
Primate,  indignant,  as  it  should  seem,  at  the  counterac- 
tion offered  to  his  resistance  of  the  proposed  measure,  and 
to  his  zeal  for  the  papal  church,  and  the  pretended  suc- 
cessor of  St.  Peter,  thereupon  rose  up  and  left  the  assem- 
bly, accompanied  by  several,  perhaps  all»  of  the  Bishops 
within  his  jurisdiction  who  were  present,  except  the 
Bishop  of  Meath,  who  continued  behind,  together  with 
the  other  clergy  who  remained. 

The  viceroy  then  took  the  order,  and  held  it  forth  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  who  stood  up,  and  received 
it  with  these  words  :  "This  order,  good  brethren,  is  from 


BROWNE.  177 

our  gracious  King,  and  from  the  rest  of  our  brethren, 
the  fathers  and  clergy  of  England,  who  have  consulted 
herein,  and  compared  the  holy  Scriptures  with  what 
they  have  done  ;  unto  whom  I  submit,  as  Jesus  did  to 
Cassar,  in  all  things  just  and  lawful,  making  no  question 
why  or  wherefore,  as  we  own  him  our  true  and  lawful 
King." 

Several  of  the  more  moderate  Bishops  and  clergy-  ad- 
hered to  Archbishop  Browne  ;  among  whom  were  Staples, 
Bishop  of  Meath  ;  Lancaster,  Bishop  of  Kildare ;  Travers, 
Bishop  of  Leighlin  ;  and  Coyn,  Bishop  of  Limerick.  If 
there  were  any  other  Bishops,  their  names  have  not  been 
recorded. 

Divine  worship  was  conducted  according  to  the  English 
ritual  at  Christ-church  cathedral  in  Dublin,  on  Easter- 
day,  1551.  The  Archbishop  preached  on  the  occasion, 
and  defended  the  Reformation  with  calmness  and  judg- 
ment. The  Romanizing  and  conservative  party  were  as 
strongly  supported  by  Dowdall,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  as 
the  reforming  Party  was  by  Archbishop  Browne.  A  con- 
test for  precedence  had  for  some  centuries  been  agitated 
between  the  Archbishops  of  Armagh  and  Dublin,  each 
claiming  it  in  right  of  his  see  :  but  latterly  it  had  been 
enjoyed  with  little  or  no  opposition  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Armagh,  who  was  distinguished  by  the  title  of  Primate  of 
all  Ireland,  from  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  who  styled 
himself  only  Primate  of  Ireland,  after  the  manner  used 
for  distinguishing  in  the  like  respect  the  x\rchbishops  of 
Canterbury  and  York  in  England.  But  in  consequence 
of  the  parts  respectively  taken  by  the  two  iVrchbishops  on 
the  recent  occasion  ;  in  testimony  of  disapprobation  of  the 
obstinate  opposition  made  by  Archbishop  Dowdall  to  the 
Retbrmation,  and  specially  to  the  introduction  of  the 
Liturgy  ;  and  in  acknowledgment  of  the  zeal,  resolution, 
and  extraordinary  services  of  Archbishop  Browne  ;  by  an 
act  of  the  20th  of  October,  1551,  the  King  and  council 
of  England  deprived  the  former  of  the  primacy  of  all 
Q'2 


178  BROWNE. 

Ireland,  and  by  letters  patent  conferred  the  title  on  tlie 
latter  and  his  successors,  and  annexed  it  to  the  see  of 
Dublin. 

But  Browne  did  not  long  enjoy  his  precedence.  With 
the  accession  of  Queen  Mary  the  Romanizers  regained 
their  authority  in  the  Church  of  Ireland  as  well  as  in 
England,  and  at  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1554  Browne 
was  illegally,  uncanonically,  and  by  an  act  of  tyranny 
deprived  of  his  see.  Archbishop  Dowdall  then  recovered 
the  title  of  Primate,  which  has  ever  since  been  attached  to 
his  see.  The  exact  time  of  Archbishop  Browne's  death  is 
not  recorded,  we  are  merely  informed  that  it  occurred 
about  the  year  1556. — Chiefly  from  Bisliop  Mant's  History 
of  the  Church  of  Ireland.  Life  and  Sermon  re-jmnted  in 
the  Phoenix.     Strypes  Cranmer.    Ware.    Wood. 


BKOWNE,  PETER. 

Petek  Browne,  a  native  of  Ireland,  was  at  first  provost 
of  Trinity  College  in  Dublin,  and  afterwards  Bishop  of 
Cork.  He  wrote,  1.  A  Refutation  of  Toland's  Christianity 
not  Mysterious.  This  was  the  foundation  of  his  prefer- 
ment ;  which  occasioned  him  to  say  to  Toland  himself, 
that  he  was  indebted  to  him  for  his  mitre.  2.  The  Pro- 
gress, Extent,  and  Limits,  of  the  Human  Understanding, 
1728,  8vo.  This  was  meant  as  a  supplemental  work,  dis- 
playing more  at  large  the  principles  on  which  he  had 
confuted  Toland.  3.  Sermons  levelled  principally  against 
the  Socinians,  written  in  a  manly  and  easy  style,  and 
much  admired.  He  published  also,  4.  A  little  volume  in 
12mo,  against  the  Custom  of  Drinking  to  the  Memory  of 
the  Dead.  It  was  a  fashion  among  the  whigs  of  his  time 
to  drink  to  the  glorious  and  immortal  memory  of  king 
William  III.,  which  greatly  disgusted  our  bishop,  and  is 
supposed  to  have  given  rise  to  the  piece  in  question.  His 
notion  was.   that  drinking  to  the  dead  is  tantamount  to 


BROWNE.  179 

praying  for  the  dead,  and  not,  as  is  really  meant,  an 
ai)probation  of  certain  conduct  or  principles.  The  only 
effect,  however,  was  that  the  whigs  added  to  their  toast, 
"in  spite  of  the  Bishop  of  Cork."  He  died  in  1735. 
—  Gen.  Biog.  Diet. 


BEOWNE,  THOMAS. 

Thomas  Browne  was  born  in  the  county  of  Middlesex, 
in  1604.  In  16"20  he  was  elected  student  of  Christ- 
church,  and  took  his  master's  degree  in  1627.  In  1636 
he  served  the  office  of  proctor,  and  the  year  after  was 
made  domestic  chaplain  to  Archbishop  Laud,  and  bachelor 
of  divinity.  Soon  after  he  became  rector  of  St.  Mary 
Alderraary,  London,  canon  of  Windsor  in  1639,  and 
rector  of  Oddington,  in  Oxfordshire.  When  the  Rebellion 
broke  out  the  rebels  and  dissenters  ejected  him  from  his 
living.  He  was  one  among  many  thousand  sufferers  who 
have  met  with  little  sympathy,  although  for  their  Church 
and  their  King  they  suffered  insult  to  their  persons,  impri- 
sonment, and  spoiling  of  goods.  They  who  suffer  for  ortho- 
doxy and  loyalty,  must  always  look  for  their  reward 
beyond  the  grave  In  an  evil  and  adulterous  generation 
the  rebel  is  admired  if  successful,  and  hanged,  if  in 
an  attempt  to  succeed  he  endangers  life  and  property. 
Browne,  when  driven  from  his  Church  and  his  home, 
joined  Charles  the  Martyr  at  Oxford.  He  was  chaplain  to 
the  King,  and  when  prevented  by  a  tyrannical  exercise  of 
power  on  the  part  of  the  rebels  from  discharging  his 
duties  to  his  parishioners,  he  hoped  at  least  to  be  of  some 
service  to  his  royal  master.  In  1642  he  was  created  D.D. 
having  then  only  the  profits  of  Oddington  to  maintain 
him.  He  appears  aftei-wards  to  have  been  stripped  even 
of  this,  and  went  to  the  continent,  where  he  was  for  some 
time  chaplain  to  Mary,  Princess  of  Orange.  After  the 
Restoration,  he  was  admitted  again  to  his  former  prefer- 
ments, but  does  not  appear  to  have  had  any  other  reward 


180  BROWNRIG. 

for  his  losses  and  sufferings.  He  died  at  Windsor,  in 
1673,  and  was  buried  on  the  outside  of  St.  Georges 
chapel,  where  Dr.  Isaac  Vossius,  his  executor,  erected 
a  monument  to  his  memory,  with  an  inscription  celebrat- 
ing his  learning,  eloquence,  critical  talents,  and  knowledge 
of  antiquities.  Besides  a  sermon  preached  before  the  uni- 
versity in  1633,  he  published  A  Key  to  the  Kings  Cabinet; 
or  Animadversions  upon  the  three  printed  Speeches  of 
Mr.  L'Isle,  Mr.  Tate,  and  Mr.  Browne,  members  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  spoken  at  a  Common  Hall  in  London, 
July,  1645,  detecting  the  Malice  and  Falsehood  of  their 
Blasphemous  Observations  upon  the  King  and  Queen's 
Letters,  Oxford,  1645,  4to.  His  next  publication  was  a 
treatise  in  defence  of  Grotius  against  an  epistle  of  Salma- 
sius,  De  Posthumo  Grotii ;  this  he  printed  at  the  Hague, 
1646,  8vo,  under  the  name  of  Simplicius  Virinus,  and  it 
was  not  known  to  be  his  until  after  his  death,  when  the 
discovery  was  made  by  Vossius.  He  wrote  also,  Disser- 
tatio  de  Therapeutis  Philonis  adversus  Henricum  Vale- 
si  um,  Lond.  1687,  8vo,  at  the  end  of  Colomesius'  edition 
of  St.  Clement's  epistles ;  and  he  translated  part  of  Cam- 
den's xinnals  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  under  the  title,  Tomus 
alter  et  idem ;  or  the  History  of  the  Life  arid  Reign  of 
that  famous  Princess  Elizabeth,  &c.  Lond.  1629,  4to.  In 
the  Republic  of  Letters,  vol.  vi.  1730,  we  find  published 
for  the  first  time,  a  Concio  ad  Clerum,  delivered  for  his 
divinity  bachelor's  degree,  in  1637  ;  the  subject,  "  the 
revenues  of  the  clergy,"  which  even  at  that  period  were 
threatened. — Wood's  Athen.     Oxon.     Rejmblic  of  Letters. 


BROWNRIG,    OR    BROUNRIG,    RALPH. 

Ralph  Brownrig  was  the  son  of  a  merchant  at  Ipswich, 
and  born  159-2.  At  fourteen  years  of  age  he  was  sent  to 
Pembroke  Hall,  Cambridge,  of  which  he  successively  be- 
came scholar  and  fellow.      He  was   appointed  prevaricator 


BROWNRIG.  181 

when  James  I.  visited  the  university.  He  was  first  col- 
lated by  Dr.  Felton,  Bishop  of  Ely,  to  the  rectory  of  Bar- 
ley, in  Herefordshire,  and  in  16 '21  to  a  prebend  in  the 
church  of  Ely.  He  took  the  degree  of  doctor  in  divinity 
at  Oxford  in  16'28  ;  and  the  following  year  was  collated  to 
a  prebend  in  the  church  of  Lichfield,  which  he  quitted  on 
being  made  Archdeacon  of  Coventry  in  1631.  He  was 
likewise  master  of  Catharine  Hall,  Cambridge  ;  and  in  the 
years  1637,  1638,  1643,  and  16-14,  discharged  the  office 
of  vice-chancellor.  Although  a  good  man  he  was  inclined 
as  the  head  of  a  house  to  regard  with  too  much  deference 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  to  take  part  against  the  sound 
Church  or  Catholic  party.  In  Barwick's  Life  it  is  said  of 
him  that  he  "  sent  for  a  pupil  of  Mr.  Barwick's,  though 
not  of  his  own  college,  who  had  hitherto  constantly  fre- 
quented the  service  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  spoke 
to  him  in  this  manner  : 

'I  wonder  that  your  tutor,  no  ill  man  in  other  respects, 
does  not  yet  abstain  from  that  form  of  worship,  which  he 
must  needs  know  will  be  disagreeable  to  our  excellent 
parliament,  and  not  very  acceptable  to  God  Himself,'  (for 
Mr.  Barwick,  according  to  the  custom  of  his  college,  and 
of  the  primitive  Church,  used  to  worship  God  by  bowing 
towards  the  east.)  '  But  be  you  careful,  says  he,  to  steer 
your  course  clear  of  the  dangerous  rock  of  every  error, 
whether  it  savour  of  the  impiety  of  Arminianism,  or  of  the 
superstition  of  Popery. 

*'  Upon  this  advice  the  unhappy  young  man  immedi- 
ately began  to  warp  towards  the  Puritans,  and  was  after- 
wards promoted  to  be  chaplain,  in  his  new  way  of  worship, 
to  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  the  lord  high  admiral  of  the 
rebels'  fleet;  but  the  person  himself  who  gave  him  this  ill 
advice  was  afterwards  very  ill  treated,  even  by  those  in 
whose  favour  he  had  done  it.  Mr.  Barvvick  was  something 
concerned  at  these  reproaches  from  his  friends,  as  little  as 
he  was  ever  moved  with  those  of  his  enemies  :  indeed,  it 
was  his  constant  custom  to  return  with  all  the  good  offices 
in   his  power  whatever  ill  was  spoken  against  him  by  any 


18-2  BROWNRIG. 

one."  Brownrig  also  as  vice-chancellor  is  supposed  to  have 
prevented  active  measures  being  adopted  in  the  senate 
house  against  the  solemn  league  and  covenant.  In  1641 
he  was  presented  to  a  prebend  in  the  church  of  Durham, 
bv  Dr.  Moreton,  bishop  of  that  see;  and  the  same  year  was 
nominated  to  succeed  Dr.  Hall,  translated  to  the  bishopric 
of  Norwich,  in  the  see  of  Exeter. 

It  was  probably  on  account  of  his  liberalism,  his  hos- 
tility to  the  high  Church  movement,  and  his  relationship 
to  the  notorious  Pym,  that  the  King,  when  he  determined, 
during  his  visit  to  Scotland,  to  fill  up  the  vacant  sees, 
nominated  Dr.  Brownrig  to  Exeter.  It  was  a  condescen- 
sion to  the  malcontents.  But  the  experiment  entirely  failed. 
The  news  of  his  promotion  only  stin'ed  up  the  spirit  of 
the  enemies  of  the  Church  to  a  more  open  declaration  of 
their  purpose.  They  were,  or  pretended  to  be,  greatly 
surprised  that  the  King  should  presume  to  make  new 
Bishops,  when  they  were  resolved  to  take  away  the  old  ; 
and  therefore  voted  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
confer  with  the  house  of  lords,  in  order  to  procure  an 
insolent  address  to  King  Charles,  praying  him  "to  make 
no  new  Bishops  till  the  controversy  should  be  ended  about 
the  government  of  the  Church."  But  as  this  motion  was 
carried  with  some  difficulty,  they  thought  it  prudent  to 
proceed  no  further,  till  they  had  a  more  clear  prospect  of 
success.  It  was  not  long  afterwards,  however,  when,  on 
the  Kings  return  from  Scotland,  the  commons,  aided  by 
a  turbulent  faction  out  of  doors,  committed  twelve  of  the 
Bishops  to  the  tower  ;  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  follow- 
ing year  the  bill  was  passed  both  houses  for  taking  away 
their  votes  in  parliament,  to  which  the  King  most  reluct- 
antly granted  his  consent. 

The  Bishop  of  Exeter  had  never  taken  his  seat  in  the 
house  of  lords,  and  indeed  his  consecration  seems  not  to 
have  taken  place  till  after  these  violent  proceedings  were 
past. 

Deserted  by  his  kinsman  Pym  and  the  Presbyterians ; 
hated  indeed  the  more  for  his  former  liberalism,  he  was 


BROWNRIG.  183 

soon  after  deprived  of  his  see;  and  for  a  loyal  sermon 
preached  in  1645,  he  lost  also  the  mastership  of  his 
college.  After  this  he  resided  principally  at  the  house  of 
Thomas  Rich,  of  Sunning,  Esq. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  outrages  which  the  Bishops  had 
to  sustain,  he  was  once  assaulted,  and  narrowly  escaped 
stoning  from  the  rabble  ;  but  he  endured  this  and  all  his 
wrongs,  as  those  who  knew  him  bore  witness,  without  any 
loss  of  equanimity,  "  more  concerned  for  the  unhappy 
perpetrators  of  the  sacrilege  than  for  his  own  loss."  He 
was  a  person  of  incomparable  clearness  of  mind,  candour, 
sweetness,  solid  reasonings  skill  in  argument,  and  elo- 
quence ;  and  for  these  eminent  qualities  his  conversation 
was  often  sought  by  other  distinguished  churchmen  of 
that  time.  While  he  resided  at  Sunning,  Dr.  Seth  Ward, 
who  afterwards  succeeded  him  at  Exeter,  and  was  his 
chaplain,  used  to  go  from  Oxford  to  visit  him.  Here  on 
one  occasion  a  remarkable  interview  ensued.  The  Bishop 
sent  for  him,  and  told  him  the  precentorship  of  Exeter 
cathedral  was  become  vacant,  to  which  it  was  his  purpose 
to  present  him.  Cromwell  was  then  in  the  height  of  his 
power,  and  this  office,  like  all  other  cathedral  preferments-, 
was  sequestered.  But  the  good  man,  having  a  firm  faith 
in  the  providence  of  God,  and  believing  that  no  tyranny 
over  the  Church  can  be  permanent,  told  his  chaplain  that 
"  he  was  confident  the  King  would  be  restored  ;  and  you 
may  live,"  said  he,  "  to  see  that  happy  day  ;  and  then, 
though  I  believe  I  shall  not  see  it,  this  which  now  seems 
a  gift,  and  yet  is  no  gift,  may  be  of  some  advantage  to 
you."  With  the  same  spirit  with  which  it  was  offered 
was  it  accepted  ;  so  that  Dr.  Ward  insisted  on  paying  the 
Bishop's  secretary  the  full  fees  for  his  instrument  of 
collation,  though  this  happened  in  the  darkest  night  of 
despair,  when  there  seemed  no  probability,  and  scarcely 
any  possibility,  that  the  sun  of  hope  would  ever  shine 
again.  Brownrig  died  about  six  months  before  the  Re 
storation,  December  Tth,  1659. 


184  BROWNRIG. 

Cromwell,  when  his  power  was  established,  sometimes 
sent  for  some  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  clergy  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  pretended  to  commiserate  their 
sufferings  and  intend  them  favour.  With  this  view  he 
sought  an  interview  with  the  learned  and  pious  Arch- 
bishop Usher,  to  whom  he  made  a  promise  which  he 
shortly  after  broke,  to  the  great  discontent  of  that  vir- 
tuous and  single-minded  man.  He  sent  also  for 
Bishop  Brownrig,  and  desired  his  counsel.  Brownrig, 
knowing  his  duplicity,  looked  calmly  at  the  arch-rebel, 
and  said,  "  You  need  not  my  counsel,  if  you  will  follow 
your  Saviour's, — Restoee  to  C^sar  the  things  that 
ARE  Cesar's,  and  to  God  the  things  that  are  God's' 
With  this  uncompromising  answer  the  conference 
closed. 

Notwithstanding  his  excellence  in  such  various  ways, 
frequent  fault  was  found  with  him  for  a  want  of  zeal  in 
the  cause  of  the  Church.  When  an  attempt  was  made  to 
continue  the  episcopal  succession,  the  number  of  Bishops 
having  been  reduced  to  ten,  Bishop  Brownrig's  luke- 
warmness,  if  not  his  hostility  to  the  measure,  was  com- 
plained of. 

A  year  before  he  died  he  was,  indeed,  chosen  preacher 
at  the  Temple  in  London.  A  violent  fit  of  the  stone, 
attended  with  dropsy  and  the  infirmities  of  age,  put  an 
end  to  his  life  in  1659. 

He  was  once  married,  but  never  had  a  child.  Dr. 
Gauden,  who  had  known  him  above  thirty  years,  declares 
that  he  never  heard  of  any  thing  said  or  done  by  him, 
which  a  wise  and  good  man  would  have  wished  unsaid  or 
undone.  Forty  of  his  sermons,  being  such  as  had  been 
perused  and  approved  of  by  Dr.  Gauden,  were  published 
at  London  in  166-2,  folio,  by  William  Martyn,  M.A. 
preacher  at  the  Rolls.  These  were  re-printed,  with  the 
addition  of  twenty-five  more,  in  1674,  fol.  in  three  vols. — 
Life  and  Funeral  Sermon  by  Dr.  Gauden.  BarwicWs  Life. 
Fuller  s  Worthies. 


BRUNO.  185 

BRUNO. 

Bruno,  the  founder  of  the  order  of  Carthusians,  was 
born  at  Cologne  about  the  year  1030.  He  was  educated 
first  among  the  clergy  of  St.  Cunibert's  church,  in  his 
native  city,  and  afterwards  at  Rheims,  where  he  attracted 
so  much  notice  by  his  learning  and  piety,  that  on  a 
vacancy  occurring,  he  was  promoted  to  the  office  of  public 
professor  of  Divinity,  and  canon  in  the  church  there,  to 
which  dignity  then  belonged  the  direction  of  the  studies 
in  all  the  great  schools  of  the  diocese.  In  this  office, 
which  he  filled  with  great  reputation,  and  in  which  he 
had  for  his  pupils  some  who  afterwards  distinguished 
themselves,  particularly  Odo,  who  afterwards  became  Pope 
under  the  name  of  Urban  II.  Here  he  remained  until  1077, 
when  the  tyrannical  conduct  of  Manasses,  Archbishop  of 
Rheims,  who,  by  open  simony,  had  got  possession  of  that 
church,  induced  him  to  join  with  two  others  in  accusing 
that  Prelate  in  a  council  held  by  the  Pope's  legate  at 
Autun  in  1077.  Manasses  refusing  to  appear  at  the  coun- 
cil, was  suspended  from  his  functions  by  the  legate,  but 
caused  the  houses  of  his  accusers  to  be  broken  open  and 
plundered  and  sold  their  prebends.  Bruno  and  his  com- 
panions took  refuge  in  the  castle  of  the  count  of  Rouci, 
and  remained  there  till  August  1078. 

During  this  retreat  his  resolution  was  confirmed  of 
retiring  from  the  world,  and  although  the  Church  of 
Rheims,  on  the  condemnation  of  Manasses  for  simony, 
were  ready  to  elect  him  Archbishop,  he  refused  to  accept 
the  see,  and  resigning  his  benefice  quitted  his  friends  and 
renounced  whatever  held  him  in  the  world.  He  was  for 
some  time  unsettled  as  to  a  place  of  residence.  He  went 
to  Cologne,  his  native  place,  and  then  returned  to  Rheims, 
where  he  persuaded  six  friends  to  accompany  him  to  Saisse 
Fontaine,  in  the  diocese  of  Langres.  After  searching  for 
some  time  to  discover  a  proper  place  for  retirement,  they 
an-ived  at  Grenoble  in  1084,  and  requested  the  Bishop  to 

VOL.  III.  R 


186  BRUNO. 

allot  them  some  place  where  they  might  serve  God  remote 
from  worldly  affairs.  The  Bishop  having  assigned  them 
the  desert  of  Chartreuse,  and  promised  them  his  assistance, 
Bruno  and  his  companions  built  an  oratory  there,  and 
small  cells,  at  a  little  distance  one  from  the  other,  in 
which  they  passed  the  six  days  of  the  week,  but  assembled 
together  on  Sundays.  Their  austerities  were  rigid,  gene- 
rally following  those  of  St.  Benedict ;  and,  among  other 
iTjles,  pei*petual  silence  was  enjoined,  that  their  whole 
conversation  might  be  with  God.  They  made  their  wants 
known  by  signs.  At  parting  on  the  Sunday  each  took 
^vith  him  to  his  cell  one  loaf  and  one  kind  of  pulse  for  his 
subsistence  during  the  rest  of  the  week.  Such  was  the 
origin  of  the  religious  order  of  the  Carthusians  ;  when  the 
number  of  the  monks  increased  it  became  necessary  for 
Bruno  to  form  a  system  and  to  establish  rules.  His 
monks  were  to  wear  a  hair  cloth  next  their  body,  a  white 
cassock,  and  over  it  a  black  cloak :  they  were  never  to  eat 
flesh  ;  to  fast  every  Friday  on  bread  and  water ;  to  eat 
alone  in  their  chambers,  except  upon  certain  festivals; 
and  to  observe  an  almost  perpetual  silence  :  none  were 
allowed  to  go  out  of  the  monastery,  except  the  prior  and 
procurator,  and  they  only  about  the  business  of  the  house. 

They  were  not  to  go  out  of  their  cells,  except  to  church, 
\^ithout  leave  of  their  superior.  They  were  not  to  speak  to 
any  person,  even  their  own  brother,  without  leave.  They 
might  not  keep  any  part  of  their  portion  of  meat  or  drink 
till  the  next  day,  except  herbs  or  fruit.  Their  bed  was  of 
straw,  covered  with  a  felt  or  coarse  cloth  ;  their  clothing, 
two  hair  cloths,  two  cowls,  two  pair  of  hose,  a  cloak,  &c. 
all  coarse.  Every  monk  had  two  needles,  some  thread, 
scissors,  a  comb,  a  razor,  a  hone,  an  ink-horn,  pens,  chalk, 
two  pumice-stones ;  likewise  two  pots,  two  porringers,  a 
bason,  two  spoons,  a  knife,  a  drinking  cup,  a  water  pot,  a 
salt,  a  dish,  a  towel ;  and,  for  fire,  tinder,  flint,  v^ood,  and 
an  axe. 

In  the  refectory,  they  were  to  keep  their  eyes  on  the 


,  BRUNO.  187 

meat,  their  hands  on  the  table,  their  attention  on  the 
reader,  and  their  heart  fixed  on  God.  When  allowed  to 
discourse,  they  were  to  do  it  modestly,  not  to  whisper,  nor 
talk  aloud,  nor  to  be  contentious.  They  confessed  to  the 
prior  every  Saturday.  Women  were  not  allowed  to  come 
into  their  churches,  that  the  monks  might  not  see  any 
thing  which  might  provoke  them  to  lewdness. 

In  the  year  1170,  Pope  Alexander  III.  took  this  order 
under  the  protection  of  the  holy  see.  In  1391,  Boniface 
IX.  exempted  them  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishops. 
In  1420,  Martin  V.  exempted  them  from  papng  the 
tenths  of  the  lands  belonging  to  them ;  and  Julius  II.  in 
1508,  ordered,  that  all  the  houses  of  the  order,  in  what- 
ever part  of  the  world  they  were  situated,  should  obey  the 
prior  of  the  grand  Chartreuse,  and  the  general  chapter  of 
the  order. 

The  convents  of  this  order  were  generally  very  beautiful 
and  magnificent.  That  of  Naples,  though  but  small,  sur- 
passed all  the  rest  in  ornaments  and  riches.  Nothing 
was  to  be  seen  in  the  church  and  house  but  marble  and 
jasper.  The  apartments  of  the  prior  were  rather  those  of  a 
prince,  than  a  poor  monk.  There  were  innumerable  statues, 
bass-reliefs,  paintings,  &c  ,  together  with  \erj  fine  gardens: 
all  which,  joined  with  the  holy  and  exemplary  life  of  the 
good  religious,  drew  the  curiosity  of  all  strangers  who 
visited  Naples. 

The  Carthusians  settled  in  England  about  the  year 
1180.  They  had  several  monasteries  here,  particularly  at 
Witham  in  Somersetshire,  Hinton  in  the  same  county, 
Beauval  in  Nottinghamshire,  Kingston  upon  Hull,  Mount- 
grace  in  Yorkshire,  Eppewort  in  Lincolnshire,  Shene  in 
Surrey,  and  one  near  Coventry.  In  London,  they  had  a 
famous  monastery,  since  called  from  the  Carthusians,  who 
were  settled  there,  the  Charter-house. 

After  BiTino  had  governed  this  infant  society  for  six 
years,  he  was  invited  to  Rome  by  Pope  Urban  II.,  who 
had,  as  was  observed  above,  been  his  scholar  at  Rheims, 
and  now  received  him   with  every  mark  of  respect  and 


188  BRUYS. 

confidence,  and  pressed  him  to  accept  the  archbishopric  of 
Reggio.  This,  however,  he  declined ;  and  the  Pope  con- 
sented that  he  should  withdraw  into  some  wilderness  on 
the  mountains  of  Calabria.  Bruno  found  a  convenient 
solitude  in  the  diocese  of  Squillaci,  where  he  settled  in 
]  090,  with  some  new  disciples,  until  his  death,  Oct.  6, 
1101.  There  are  only  two  letters  of  his  remaining,  one  to 
Raoul  le  Verd,  and  the  other  to  his  monks,  which  are 
printed  in  a  folio  volume,  entitled  S.  Brunonis  Opera  et 
Vita,  1524;  but  the  other  contents  of  the  volume  belong 
to  another  St.  Bruno,  first  a  monk  of  Solaria,  in  the  dio- 
cese of  Ast,  and  hence  called  Astiensis.  He  distinguished 
himself  at  the  council  of  Rome  in  1079,  against  Berenger, 
and  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Segni,  by  Gregory  VIL 
He  died  in  1125. — JDupin.  Butler.  Broughton.  Dugdale. 


BRUYS,    PETEE. 

Peter  Bruys,  founder  of  the  sect  of  Petrobrussians,  flour- 
ished in  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  centuiy.  That  he  was 
a  presbyter  appears  from  Abelard,  Introduct.  Theol.  1066, 
"presbyter  in  provincia."  As  Abelard  there  says  of  him, 
"  Peter  de  Bruys  continued  his  exertions  for  the  space  of 
twenty  years,"  referring  to  him  as  one  already  dead  ;  and 
this  book  must  certainly  have  been  published  before  the 
year  1121  when  it  was  condemned  in  the  council  of  Sois- 
sons :  we  are  thus  enabled  to  reckon  with  accuracy  the 
time  of  his  first  appearance.  He  laboured  in  the  regions 
of  the  Pyrenees,  in  Provence,  Languedoc,  and  Gascony, 
and  his  energetic  discourses  penetrated  the  hearts  of  many 
of  the  susceptible  ;  but  it  was  not  a  pure  and  gentle  enthu- 
siasm which  was  excited  by  his  preaching,  neither  were 
his  proceedings  calculated  to  excite  such  a  feeling.  He 
attacked  not  only  the  abuses  of  the  Church,  but  the  funda- 
mentals of  religion,  and  stirred  up  the  people  to  acts  of 
violence  and  rebellion.  The  result  was  that  the  followers 
of  Peter  de  Bruys  proceeded  to  pull  down  churches  aud 


BRUYS.  18U 

altars  ;  and  assembling  on  Good  Friday  brought  together 
all  the  crucifixes  they  could  collect ;   then  making  a  great 
fire  of  the  wood,  cooked    fish  in  open  defiance  of  the 
authority  of  the  Church,  and  invited  all  to  the  feast.  They 
went   about   scourging   the    priests  and  compelling   the 
monks  to  marry.    "And  what  other  result,"  asks  Neander, 
* '  could  have  been  anticipated  from  the  spirit  of  unbridled 
liberty  pervading  so  rude   an  age,   when  we  see   at  the 
kindred  and  more  advanced  age  of  the  reformation,  all  the 
caution  of  the  reformers  was  insuflicient  to  prevent  men 
from  confounding   earthly  licentiousness  with   Christian 
freedom,  and  to  restrain  the  wdld  bursts  of  human  passion." 
He   consistently  rejected  infant   baptism,    no   express 
command  existing  in  Scripture  to  baptize  infants,  because 
he  was  an  infidel  as  to  the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regenera- 
tion.    As  God  will  accept  sincere  worship  every  where,  he 
drew  the   conclusion   that  churches  are  unnecessary  and 
ought  to  be  pulled  down.     As  God  is  not  conciliated  by 
musical  melodies,   he  deduced  the  exaggerated  inference 
that  "God  is  only  mocked  by  Church  chanting."     He 
maintained  that  "  the  cross  as  the  memorial  of  the  suffer- 
ings and  martyrdom  of  Christ,  ought  rather  to  be  despised 
and  banished,  in  revenge  for  his  death,  than  to  be  honou  red 
of  men."    He  entirely  rejected  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord  s 
Supper,  again   acting  consistently  as  he  did  not  acknow- 
ledge the  inward  part   or  thing  signified,   that  is,   "  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  which  are  verily  and  indeed 
taken  and  received  by  the  faithful  in  the  Lord's  Supper.' 
He  said  that  Christ  had  once,  and  once  for  all,  before  His 
sufferings,  produced  His  Body  in  the  bread,  and  distributed 
it  among  His  disciples,  therefore  the  celebration  was  not  to 
be  repeated. 

After  having  preached  these  and  other  heresies,  and 
excited  sedition  among  the  people  in  the  south  of  France, 
a  re- action  took  place,  and  Peter  de  Bruys  was  seized  by 
an  infuriated  mob,  and  conducted  to  the  scaffold  in  the 
town  of  St.  Giles  in  Languedoc. — See  the  Life  of  Bernard. 
Neander's  Life  of  Bernard.  Moreri.  Mosheim. 
r2 


190  BUCEE. 


BUCEE,  MAKTIN. 


Martin  Bucer.  This  eminent  German  Reformer  was 
born  in  1491,  in  Schelestade,  a  town  of  Alsace.  He  took 
the  religious  habit  in  the  order  of  St.  Dominic,  and 
studied  logic  and  philosophy  at  Heidelberg.  He  perused 
with  avidity  the  writings  of  Erasmus,  which  first  unsettled 
his  mind,  and  afterwards  those  of  Luther,  until  he  be- 
came persuaded  that  the  Church  needed  a  reformation. 
Having  given  utterance  to  his  opinions,  he  was  chosen  by 
Frederick,  Elector  Palatine,  to  be  his  chaplain,  and  in 
1521  he  had  some  conferences  with  Luther  at  Heidleberg, 
where  he  professed  his  adherence  to  the  Lutheran  doctrine 
of  Justification,  and  was  the  avowed  disciple  of  the  great 
reformer.  Like  too  many  of  his  brother  reformers,  he  not 
only  advocated  the  cause  of  a  married  clergy,  which  was 
right,  but  although  bound  by  vows  not  himself  to  marry, 
he  broke  his  vovvs  and  persuaded  a  nun  to  do  the  same. 
This  of  course  injured  the  cause,  since  the  Papists  made 
the  opposition  to  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  on  the  part  of 
the  reformers.,  appear  to  be  the  result  of  any  thing  but 
principle.  By  his  first  wife  he  had  thirteen  children. 
His  second  wife  was  a  wddow,  and  on  her  death  he  married 
a  third  time.     What  became  of  his  children  is  not  known. 

It  is  well  known  that  a  separation  took  place  between 
the  German  and  the  Swiss  reformers,  on  the  doctrine  of 
the  Eucharist.  Luther  and  the  Protestants  maintained, 
according  to  Mosheim,  that  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our 
Lord  were  really,  though  in  a  manner  beyond  human 
comprehension,  present  in  the  Eucharist,  and  were  ex- 
hibited together  with  the  bread  and  wine.  Zuinglius  and 
the  reformed,  as  they  were  called,  looked  upon  the  bread 
and  wine  in  no  other  light  than  as  mere  signs  of  the 
absent  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  Zuinglius  was  sup- 
ported by  CEcolampadius  of  Basil.  The  opposition  of 
Luther  to  these  misbelievers  was  as  vehement  as  his 
opposition  generally  was  to  those  whose  private  judgment 
did  not  accord  with  his  own.     Martin  Bucer  sided  in  this 


BUCER.  191 

controversy  with  the  ZuingUans,  and  became  with  Capito 
a  zealous  defender  of  the  figurative  sense,  by  which  the 
Holy  Eucharist  ceases  to  be  a  Sacrament.  The  opinion 
of  Bucer  was  of  some  importance  in  the  controversy,  not 
only  because  he  w^as  a  man  of  competent  learning  and 
commanding  eloquence,  but  because  he  was  now  at  the 
head  of  the  reformation  in  Strasburg.  In  1528  he  w^as 
appointed  public  preacher  in  the  church  of  Strasburg,  and 
was  nominated  to  read  divinity  in  the  schools ;  and  here, 
with  Capito  and  others,  he  succeeded  in  prevailing  upon 
the  senate  by  a  general  vote  to  cast  out  Popery.  The 
confession  of  Augsburg,  digested  by  Melancthon,  was 
presented  to  the  Emperor  in  1530.  Bucer  and  his  asso- 
ciates at  Strasburg  offered  to  subscribe  it,  excepting  only 
the  article  on  the  Lord's  Supper,  they  being  defenders  of 
the  figurative  sense,  and  the  Protestants  resolutely  main- 
taining the  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence.  The  reformers 
of  Strasburg  were  not  admitted  on  these  terms,  and 
consequently  drew  up  their  own  particular  confession. 
The  author  of  this  confession  was  Bucer.  It  does  not 
appear  that  Bucer  had  concerted  any  thing  with  Zuinglius ; 
the  latter,  with  the  Swiss,  spoke  plainly  and  openly : 
Bucer,  more  intent  upon  keeping  together  the  reforming 
party  than  upon  defining  doctrine  used  indefinite  and  am- 
biguous expressions.  In  the  article  on  the  Lord  s  Supper, 
though  unwilling  to  make  use  of  the  same  terms  as  the 
Lutherans,  to  explain  the  Real  Presence,  yet  he  affects  to 
say  nothing  that  might  be  expressly  contrary  to  it,  and 
expresses  himself  in  words  ambiguous  enough  to  bear  that 
sense.  Thus  he  speaks,  or  makes  those  of  Strasburg  and 
the  others  speak :  "  When  Christians  repeat  the  Supper 
which  Jesus  Christ  made  before  His  death,  in  that  manner 
He  instituted  it.  He  gives  to  them,  by  the  Sacrament, 
His  true  Body  and  Blood,  to  be  the  food  and  drink  of 
souls."  Such  was  the  assertion  of  a  reformer  taking  the 
lowest  view  of  the  Sacraments  at  the  era  of  the  Refonna- 
tion.     It  is  no  compliment  to  him  to  insinuate  that  he 


192  BUCER. 

said  more  than  he  meant,  and  that  he  intended  to  be 
understood  in  a  non-natural  sense. 

In  the  year  preceding,  Bucer  had  been  present  at 
the  conference  of  Marpurg,  held  between  Luther  and 
Zuinglius,  and  other  doctors  of  both  parties,  and  had 
endeavoured  to  reconcile  difference^.  At  that  time  his 
idea  of  effecting  a  hollow  pacification  by  equivocal  ex- 
plications, had  not  been  started.  The  true  presence 
of  the  Body  and  Blood  was  plainly  maintained  on  one 
side,  and  denied  on  the  other.  On  both  sides  it  was 
understood  that  a  presence  in  figure  and  a  presence  by 
faith  was  not  a  true  presence  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  a 
moral  presence,  a  presence  improperly  so  called  and  in 
metaphor.  This  meeting  only  covered  the  flame  of  discord, 
instead  of  extinguishing  it,  and  although  the  parties 
separated  to  all  appearance  agreeing  in  all  articles  except 
the  Eucharist,  it  was  soon  apparent  that  there  really 
existed  other  points  of  difference.  In  the  confession  of 
Strasburg,  drawn  up  afterwards  by  Bucer,  there  is  a  wide 
difference  between  his  view  of  justification  and  that  of 
Luther.  He  defines  justification  to  be  that  by  which,  "  of 
unjust  we  become  just,  and  of  wicked  good  and  upright," 
without  giving  us  any  other  idea  of  it.  He  adds,  that  it  is 
gratuitous,  and  attributes  it  to  faith  :  but  to  faith  joined 
with  charity,  and  fruitful  in  good  works.  Thus  he  says, 
with  the  Confession  of  Augsburg,  "  that  charity  is  the 
fulfilling  of  the  whole  law,  conformably  to  the  doctrine  of 
St.  Paul:"  yet  explains  more  strongly  than  Melancthon 
had  done,  how  necessarily  the  law  ought  to  be  fulfilled, 
asserting  "  that  no  one  can  be  completely  saved,  if  he  be 
not  so  guided  by  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  as  not  to  fail 
in  any  of  those  good  works,  for  the  practising  of  which 
God  has  created  us ;  and  that  it  is  so  necessary  the  law 
should  be  fulfilled,  that  heaven  and  earth  shall  sooner  pass 
away  than  an  abatement  be  made  in  the  least  tittle  of  the 
law,  or  in  one  single  iota." 

A  defensive  league   was  formed  by  the  Emperor  with 


BUCER:  193 

the  Roman  Catholic  states,  after  the  passing  of  the 
vigorous  decree  of  the  diet  of  Augsburg  against  the  Pro- 
testants. The  Protestants  perceived  the  importance  of 
union  among  themselves,  but  the  decision  regarding  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  an  obstacle  to  this.  The  Landgrave 
hesitated  not  to  make  a  treaty  with  the  reformers  of  Basil, 
Zurich,  and  Strasburg,  but  Luther  would  not  hear  of 
compromise,  and  the  Elector,  John  Fredeiick,  persisted  in 
the  resolution  of  making  no  league  with  them.  Bucer  was 
employed  by  the  Landgrave  to  endeavour  to  reconcile 
differences  ;  and  Bucer  was  a  fit  man  to  do  so,  being  less 
sincere  than  Luther  in  his  desire  to  establish  a  dogma, 
and  being  very  earnest  to  sacrifice  much  in  order  to  form 
a  confederacy  against  the  Papisis.  Bucer  found  that  he 
had  a  very  difficult  office.  The  negociation  was  inter- 
rupted by  the  war  between  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Pro- 
testant Cantons  in  Switzerland,  and  at  the  peace  of 
Nuremberg  both  Luther  and  Melancthon  declared  against 
mutual  toleration,  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  injurious 
to  the  truth.  Bucer,  not  obtaining  toleration  from  the 
Protestants,  proceeded  on  the  plan  of  adopting  some 
equivocal  confession,  by  means  of  which  those  who  differed 
in  thought  might  appear  to  agree  in  words ;  and  he 
asserted  all  along  that  the  dispute  between  the  Lutherans 
and  Zuinglians  was  a  mere  dispute  in  words.  In  seeking 
to  please  both  parties,  he,  as  is  usually  the  case,  satisfied 
neither.  Luther  said  of  those  who  denied  the  Real 
Presence  in  the  Eucharist,  "  they  made  a  devilish  game 
with  the  words  of  our  Lord."  "  The  presence  which  Bucer 
admits,"  says  Melancthon,  "  is  but  a  presence  in  word, 
and  a  presence  of  virtue.  But  it  is  the  presence  of  the 
Body  and  Blood,  and  not  that  of  their  virtue,  which  we 
require.  If  this  body  of  Jesus  Christ  be  nowhere  else  but 
in  heaven,  and  is  not  with  the  bread,  nor  in  the  bread, — 
if,  finally,  it  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Eucharist  but  by 
the  contemplation  of  faith,  it  is  nothing  but  an  imaginary 
presence." 

(Ecolampadius  was  as  much  offended  on  the  other  side; 


194  BUCER. 

he  openly  denied  any  presence  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist, 
but  such  as  Socinians  or  modern  Puritans  would  admit. 
After  plainly  declaring  his  want  of  faith  in  this  respect, 
he  declares  to  Bucer  :  "  This  is  all,  my  dear  Bucer,  we 
can  grant  to  the  Lutherans.  Obscurity  is  dangerous  to 
our  churches.  Act  after  such  a  manner,  my  dear  brother, 
as  not  to  deceive  our  hopes."  Calvin  on  one  occasion, 
wishing  to  express  a  reprehensible  obscurity  in  an  article 
of  faith,  said,  "  There  is  nothing  so  embarrassed,  so 
ambiguous,  so  intricate  in  Bucer  himself."  Nothing 
daunted,  however,  and  having  always  in  view  the  union  of 
all  anti-Romanists,  Bucer  and  Capito  went  from  Strasburg 
to  Basil  in  1536,  and  solicited  the  Swiss  to  make  another 
confession  of  faith,  "  which  might  be  so  framed  as  to 
assist  the  agreement  they  had  considerable  hopes  of  effect- 
ing ;"  that  is,  it  was  proper  to  select  such  terms  as  the 
Lutherans,  ardent  defenders  of  the  Real  Presence,  might 
take  in  good  part.  With  this  view,  a  new  confession  of 
faith  was  drawn  up,  which  is  the  second  of  Basil ;  the 
expressions  we  have  related  in  the  first,  which  specified, 
too  precisely,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  present,  except  in 
Heaven,  and  that  nothing  but  a  sacramental  presence, 
and  by  remembrance  only,  was  to  be  acknowledged  in  the 
Sacrament,  are  here  retrenched.  In  reality,  the  Swiss 
appeared  strongly  intent  on  asserting,  as  they  had  done  in 
the  first  Basil  confession,  "  that  the  Body  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  not  contained  in  the  bread."  Had  they  used  these 
terms  without  some  modification,  the  Lutherans  would 
easily  have  perceived  their  object  was  directly  to  oppose 
the  Real  Presence ;  but  Bucer  had  expedients  for  every 
thing.  By  his  insinuations,  those  of  Basil  were  deter- 
mined to  say,  "  That  the  Body  and  Blood  are  not 
naturally  united  to  the  bread  and  wine ;  but  that  the 
bread  and  wine  are  symbols,  by  which  Jesus  Christ  Him- 
self gave  us  a  true  communication  of  His  Body  and  Blood, 
not  to  serve  as  a  perishable  nourishment  to  the  stomach, 
but  to  be  a  food  of  life  eternal." 

Although    Bucer  partially  succeeded  at  Basil  in    his 


BUCER.  195 

object  of  obtaining  a  verbal  agreement  between  parties 
directly  opposed  in  real  opinion,  the  reformers  of  Zurich 
refused  to  make  any  compromise  with  him.  But  at  length 
he  succeeded  in  pacifying  Luther,  till  that  time  implacable. 
He  made  Luther  believe  that  the  Sacramentarians  had 
truly  come  over  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Augsburg  Confes- 
sion and  Apology.  Melancthon,  with  whom  Bucer  was 
negociating,  acquainted  him  that  he  found  Luther  more 
tractable,  and  that  he  began  to  speak  more  amicably  of 
him  and  his  companions.  At  last  the  assembly  of  Wit- 
temberg,  in  Saxony,  was  held,  at  which  the  deputies  of  the 
GeiTnan  churches,  on  both  sides,  were  present.  Luther 
at  first  spoke  in  a  lofty  tone.  He  would  have  Bucer  and 
his  companions  declare  that  they  retracted,  and  entirely 
rejected  all  they  said  to  him  of  the  thing  itself,  as  being 
not  so  much  the  subject  of  discussion  as  the  manner.  But 
at  length,  after  much  discussion,  in  which  Bucer  dis- 
played all  his  pliancy,  Luther  took  those  articles,  which 
this  minister  and  his  companions  granted  him,  for  a 
retractation. 

1.  "That,  according  to  the  words  of  St.  Irenaeus,  the 
Eucharist  consists  of  two  things — the  one  terrestial,  and 
the  other  celestial ;  and,  by  consequence,  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Jesus  Christ  are  truly  and  substantially  present, 
given,  and  received  with  the  bread  and  wine." 

2.  "  That,  although  they  had  rejected  Transubstan- 
tiation,  and  did  not  believe  that  the  Body  of  Jesus  Christ 
was  contained  locally  in  the  bread,  or  had  with  the  bread 
any  union  of  long  continuance  out  of  the  use  of  the 
Sacrament,  it  ought,  however,  to  be  acknowledged  that 
the  bread  was  the  Body  of  Jesus  Christ,  by  a  sacramental 
union  :  that  is,  that  the  bread  being  present,  the  Body 
of  Jesus  Christ  was  at  the  same  time  present,  and  truly 
given." 

3.  They  add,  however,  "  That  out  of  the  use  of  the 
Sacrament,  whilst  it  is  kept  in  the  ciborium,  or  shewn 
in  processions,  they  believe  it  is  not  the  Body  of  Jesus 
Christ." 


196  BUCER. 

4.  They  concluded  by  saying  "  That  this  institution  of 
the  Sacrament  has  its  force  in  the  church,  and  depends 
not  on  the  worthiness  or  unworthiness  of  the  minister,  nor 
of  him  who  receives. " 

5.  "  That  as  for  the  unworthy,  who,  according  to  St. 
Paul,  truly  eat  the  Sacrament,  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  are  truly  presented  to  them,  and  they  truly 
EECEivE  THEM,  when  the  words  of  Christ's  institution  are 
observed. " 

6.  "That,  however,  they  take  it  to  their  judgment," 
as  says  the  same  St.  Paul,  "because  they  abuse  the 
Sacrament,  by  taking  it  without  repentance,  and  without 

FAITH." 

Luther,  it  seems,  had  nothing  more  to  desire,  and 
Bucer  had  reserved  for  himself  a  way  of  escape.  He  has 
published  several  works  in  which  he  acquaints  his  friends 
in  what  sense  he  understood  each  word  of  the  agreement, 
and  fully  justifies  Calvin  in  his  assertion  that  "  Melanc- 
thon  and  Bucer  composed  on  trans ubstantiation,  equivocal 
and  deceitful  forms  of  faith,  in  order  to  satisfy,  if  possible, 
their  adversaries  in  conceding  nothing  to  them."  Cahin 
was  the  first  to  condemn  these  affected  obscurities  and 
shameful  dissimulations  :  "  With  reason,"  says  he,  "  you 
blame  the  obscurities  of  Bucer."  "It  must  be  spoken 
freely,"  says  he  in  another  place,  "it  is  not  lawful  to 
embarrass  that  with  obscure  and  equivocal  words  which 
requires  light ;  those  who  would  hold  a  medium,  forsake 
the  defence  of  truth." 

Both  sides  for  a  season  seem  to  have  claimed  Bucer, 
but  at  the  assembly  of  Smalkald,  in  1537,  Bucer  declared 
himself  so  explicitly  on  the  Real  Presence,  "that  he 
satisfied  (says  Melancthon,  w^ho  mentions  it  with  joy) 
even  those  of  our  people  who  were  the  most  difficult  to 
be  pleased."  Consequently,  he  satis^ed  Luther;  and  here, 
again,  Melancthon  is  delighted  that  the  sentiments  of 
Luther  are  followed,  whilst  he  himself  abandons  them ; 
that  is,  he  was  delighted  to  see  all  the  Protestants  of 
Germany  re-united.     Bucer  had  given   his  assent;   the 


BUCER.  197 

town  of  Strasburg,  with  their  Doctor,  declared  for  the 
Confession  of  Augsburg ;  and  peace  was  in  appearance 
restored  between  the  Protestants  and  the  Reformed. 

The  Landgrave  of  Hesse  had  found  Bucer  so  skilful  a 
negociator  that,  in  1539,  this  distinguished  leader  of  the 
Reformation  employed  him  in  a  delicate  and  disgraceful 
transaction,  which  has  been  severely  noticed,  and  with 
justice,  by  the  enemies  of  the  reformation  movement.  The 
Landgrave,  supposing  that  as  cehbacy  was  no  longer  im- 
posed upon  the  clergy,  polygamy  might  be  allowed  to  the 
laity,  desired  permission  to  have  a  concubine,  under  the 
title  of  a  lawful  wife,  although  his  real  wife  was  still  linng. 
The  following  were  the  instructions  which  he  delivered  to 
Bucer : — 

"  What  Doctor  Martin  Bucer  is  to  treat  of  with  Doctor 
Maitin  Luther  and  Philip  Melaucthon,  and  after,  if  it 
seems  good  to  them,  with  the  Elector  of  Saxony. 

I.  "  Let  him  announce  to  them,  in  my  name,  greeting 
and  kindness,  and  say  that  if  it  be  well  with  them  hitherto 
in  soul  and  body,  I  would  gladly  hear  of  it.  Then  let 
him  begin  to  lay  before  them,  that  since  the  time  our 
Lord  God  has  visited  me  with  sickness,  I  have  taken 
thought  of  many  things,  and  chiefly  of  this,  that  for  some 
time  since  I  have  wedded  a  wife,  1  have  lain  in  fornica- 
tion and  adultery. 

"  Now  both  they  themselves,  and  others  my  advisers,  in 
their  sennons,  have  often  exhorted  me  to  draw  nigh  to  the 
Sacrament :  but  I,  finding  in  myself  the  aforesaid  life, 
have  been  unable  for  some  years  with  any  good  conscience 
to  approach  the  Sacrament :  for  since  I  ivill  not  leave  this 
manner  of  life,  with  what  good  conscience  could  I  draw 
near  to  the  table  of  the  Lord  ?  And  by  this  I  knew  I 
could  not  but  come  into  judgment  of  the  Lord,  and  not  to 
Christian  confession. — Farther,  I  have  read  in  more  than 
one  place  of  Paul's,  how  that  neither  fornicator  nor 
adulterer  shall  possess  the  kingdom  of  God.  Now,  whereas 
I  find  in  myself  that  with  my  present  wife  I  am  unable  to 

VOL.  III.  s 


198  BUCER. 

abstain  from  fornication,  lasciviousness,  and  adultery : 
unless  I  do  cease  from  such  a  life,  and  turn  me  to  amend- 
ment, I  have  no  surer  expectation  than  to  be  disinherited 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  eternally  damned.  But  the 
causes  for  which  I  cannot  abstain  from  fornication,  adul- 
tery, and  the  like,  with  this  my  present  wife,  are  on  this 
wise  : — 

II.  "  First,  that  from  the  time  I  wedded  her  neither  my 
affection  nor  desire  did  embrace  her :  and  of  what  kind  is 
her  complexion,  her  desirableness,  and  her  smell,  her 
carriage  also  at  times  under  excessive  drink,  is  known  unto 
the  lords  of  the  palace,  to  her  maidens,  and  many  others. 
As  it  is  hard  for  me  to  describe  these  things,  I  have 
declared  them  fully  to  Bucer. 

III.  "  Secondly,  whereas  I  am  of  robust  constitution,  as 
my  physicians  know,  and  it  often  chances  that  I  must 
attend  for  a  length  of  time  the  assemblies  of  the  confedera- 
tion and  the  empire,  where  living  is  high  and  the  body 
pampered :  it  is  easy  to  conjecture  and  conceive  in  what 
strait  I  am  without  a  wife,  since  it  is  not  possible  to  carry 
thither  the  incumbrance  of  a  female  train. 

IV.  '*  If  it  shall  be  farther  asked  wherefore  I  did  w^d 
this  my  wife,  ti'uly  at  that  time' I  was  but  an  imprudent 
man,  and  was  persuaded  thereunto  by  certain  of  my 
councillors,  of  whom  the  greater  part  be  now  dead.  My 
marriage  bond  I  did  keep  but  three  weeks  unbroken,  and 
thus  have  I  continued  until  now. 

V.  "  Moreover  the  preachers  do  continually  urge  me  to 
punish  misdeeds,  fornication,  and  such  like,  which  indeed 
I  willingly  would  do ;  but  how  should  I  punish  misdeeds 
in  the  which  I  myself  am  plunged,  when  all  men  would 
truly  say  :  "  Master,  first  punish  thyself."  Were  I  even 
now  to  make  wai'  for  the  Gospel-cause,  I  should  ever  do  i^o 
with  an  evil  conscience,  and  think  wdthin  myself :  if  thou 
shalt  fall  by  stroke  of  sword  or  shot  of  gun,  or  by  any 
other  means,  thou  goest  to  the  foul  fiend."  Meanwhile,  I 
have  often  called  on  God  and  prayed  :  but  I  remained 
nevertheless  the  same. 


BUCER.  199 

VI.  "  Now  indeed  have  I  diligently  considered  the 
Scriptures,  both  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  the  New,  and 
with  what  grace  God  hath  given  me,  have  diligently  read 
them,  and  therein  can  find  none  other  counsel  or  means, 
(seeing  that  from  this  manner  of  behaviour  I  neither  cun 
nor  will  abstain,  with  my  present  wife,  which  I  witness 
before  God,)  than  to  apply  such  remedies  as  are  by  God 
allowed,  and  not  forbidden.  For  the  pious  Fathers,  such 
as  Abraham,  Jacob,  David,  Lamech,  Solomon,  and  others, 
had  more  than  one  wife,  and  they  believed  in  the  same 
Christ,  in  whom  we  believe,  as  St.  Paul  says  in  the  tenth 
chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  Moreover, 
God  in  the  Old  Testament  greatly  praised  such  saints, 
and  Christ  also  in  the  New  Testament  greatly  praises  the 
same  ;  the  law  also  of  Moses  makes  provision  for  a  mans 
behaviour  in  the  case  of  his  having  two  wives. 

VII.  "  And  if  it  be  objected  that  this  was  allowed  to 
Abraham  and  the  ancients  on  account  of  Christ  promised, 
yet  is  it  found  that  the  law  of  Moses  allows  it,  and  makes 
mention  of  no  man  saying  whether  he  had  two  wives  or 
not,  and  thus  it  excludes  no  man.  Also,  though  Christ 
was  promised  only  to  the  stem  of  Judah,  nevertheless  the 
father  of  Samuel,  and  King  Achab  and  others  had  several 
wives,  wherefore  it  cannot  stand  that  this  was  allowed  only 
on  account  of  the  promised  Messias. 

VIII.  *'  Since  then  neither  God  in  the  Old,  nor  Christ 
in  the  New  Testament,  neither  the  Prophets  nor  the 
Apostles  forbade  a  man  to  have  two  wives  :  for  no  Prophet 
nor  Apostle  ever  for  this  cause  did  punish  or  blame  kings 
or  princes,  or  other  men,  for  that  they  had  two  wedded 
wives  at  once,  nor  held  it  to  be  a  crime  or  sin  in  them,  or 
that  they  should  therefore  not  reach  the  kingdom  of  God  : 
since  Paul  tells  of  many  who  shall  not  reach  that  kingdom, 
and  makes  no  mention  at  all  of  such  as  have  two  wives  : 
the  Apostles  also,  when  they  shewed  the  Gentiles  how 
they  should  behave,  and  from  what  things  they  should 
abstain,  when  first  they  received  them  into  the  faith,  (as 
it  is  set  forth  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles)  forbade  not  this. 


^00  BUCER. 

that  they  should  have  two  wives :  since  there  were  yet 
many  Gentiles  who  had  more  than  one  wife,  neither  was 
it  forbidden  to  the  Jews,  for  the  law  allowed  of  it,  and  it 
is  in  use  among  certain  of  them  :  When,  therefore,  Paul 
clearly  tells  us  a  Bishop  ought  to  be  the  husband  of  one 
wife,  as  likewise  a  Deacon :  he  would  have  done  so  without 
necessary  cause,  if  every  man  were  to  have  one  wife  only ; 
and  if  it  were  so  he  would  have  enjoined  it,  and  forbidden 
to  have  several  wives. 

IX.  "  And  besides  this,  even  to  this  day,  there  be  cer- 
tain Christians  in  Eastern  regions,  who  have  wedded  two 
wives ;  also  the  Emperor  Valentinian,  whom,  notwith- 
standing the  historians,  Ambrose,  and  other  learned  men 
do  praise,  had  himself  two  wives,  and  caused  a  law  to  be 
set  forth  that  other  men  also  might  have  two. 

X.  "  Moreover,  though  of  that  which  follows  I  make  not 
much  account,  the  Pope  himself  did  grant  to  a  certain 
Count  that  had  visited  the  holy  sepulchre,  and  having 
heard  that  his  own  was  dead,  had  married  another,  that 
he  should  keep  them  both.  I  know,  too,  that  Luther  and 
Philip  advised  the  King  of  England  not  to  put  away  his 
first  wife,  but  to  wed  another  besides  her. 

"  If,  however,  it  is  objected,  that  he  had  no  heir  male  of 
his  first  wife,  w^e  think  more  should  be  granted  to  the 
cause  which  Paul  gives,  that  each  man  should  have  his 
wife  on  account  of  fornication :  for  whether  is  of  greater 
weight,  a  good  conscience,  a  soul's  salvation,  a  Christian 
life,  escape  from  shameful  and  inordinate  lust,  or  that  a 
man  should  even  be  without  heirs  whatsoever  ?  Seeing 
that  souls  should  ever  be  more  cared  for  than  mere 
temporal  matters. 

XI.  "  Thus  all  these  things  have  moved  my  mind,  to 
resolve,  since  it  may  be  done  doubtless  with  God's  help, 
to  abstain  from  fornication  and  all  uncleanness,  using 
thereunto  the  means  which  be  permitted  of  God.  I  am 
determined  to  remain  no  longer  bound  in  the  snares  of 
the  devil,  neitlier  can  I,  neither  wiU  I,  withdraw  myself 
but  by  this  way.      Wherefore    be  this  my  petition,    to 


BUCER.  201 

Luther,  Philip,  and  Bucer  himself,  that  they  be  pleased 
to  give  me  a  certificate,  that  in  so  doing  I  shall  not  act 
unlawfully. 

XII.  "  But  if  they  at  this  time,  fearing  scandal  or  harm 
to  the  Gospel-cause,  are  unwilling  to  print  it  publicly,  my 
prayer  is  that  they  give  me  a  written  certificate :  that  I 
shall  not  act  against  God's  will  by  doing  so  in  private  ; 
that  they  themselves  will  hold  it  for  a  true  marriage,  and 
seek  for  means  to  make  this  marriage  public  in  due  time, 
to  the  end  that  the  woman  I  shall  wed  may  not  pass  for  a 
dishonest  person  ;  but  contrariwise,  for  honest.  For  they 
may  consider  how  gi'ievous  it  would  else  be  for  her  whom 
I  shall  wed  to  pass  for  one  of  unchristian  and  dishonest 
conversation, — and  that  when  the  matter  remains  no 
longer  hidden,  the  whole  Church  will  in  course  of  time  be 
scandalized,  not  knowing  on  what  terms  I  do  cohabit  with 
this  person. 

XIII.  "  Let  them  not  fear,  moreover,  that  even  should 
I  wed  another  wife,  I  shall  on  that  account  ill-treat  my 
present  one,  or  refuse  to  share  her  bed,  or  shew  to  her  less 
kindness  than  heretofore  :  for  I  am  ready  in  this  matter 
to  bear  my  cross,  be  kind  to,  and  converse  with  her.  I 
intend  also  to  leave  the  sons  whom  I  have  of  her,  as 
princes  of  my  dominions,  and  provide  for  them  all  other 
honourable  things.  This,  then,  once  for  all,  is  my  peti- 
tion, that  for  God's  sake  they  would  grant  my  desire,  and 
help  me  in  such  things  as  be  not  contrary  to  God's  will, 
so  that  I  may  live  and  die  with  a  cheerful  mind,  and  take 
in  hand  with  readier  and  more  Christian  spirit  all  affairs 
of  the  Gospel-cause.  For  whatever  they  shall  bid  me  so 
to  do,  that  is  right  and  Christian,  they  shall  find  me 
ready,  whether  it  regard  the  goods  of  monaster  Lea,  or  other 
matter  whatsoever. 

XIV.  "  My  will  and  desire  is  to  take  no  more  than  one 
wife  besides  my  present  one  :  so  that  herein  the  world  and 
worldly  gain  should  not  be  looked  to,  but  rather  must  we 
look  to  God,  and  to  what  he  commands,  forbids,  or  leaves 


20^  BUCER. 

free  to  us.  For  the  Emperor  and  the  world  will  allow 
me  or  any  other  man  publicly  to  keep  mistresses ;  but 
more  than  one  wife  they  will  not  readily  allow.  What  God 
allows  they  forbid :  what  God  forbids  these  same  will 
wink  at,  as  it  seems  to  me  a  like  case  to  the  marriage  of 
priests — for  they  allow  priests  no  wives  ;  but  let  them  keep 
mistresses.  The  ecclesiastics  hate  us  already  so  bitterly, 
that  they  will  not  do  so  one  whit  more  or  less,  for  this 
new  article  of  allowing  several  wives  to  Christians. 

XV.  "Let  Bucer,  lastly,  make  Philip  and  Luther  under- 
stand that  if,  contrary  to  my  expectation,  I  find  no  help 
from  them,  I  have  several  designs  in  my  mind — amongst 
others,  to  treat  with  the  Emperor  by  intermediaries  on 
this  point,  even  should  it  cost  me  much  money,  for  there 
is  no  likelihood  of  the  Emperor's  granting  this  permission 
without  a  dispensation  from  the  Pope,  for  which,  indeed, 
I  care  but  little  :  but  that  of  the  Emperor  I  ought  not  to 
despise,  though  I  should  make  no  account  of  that  either, 
did  I  not  otherwise  believe  that  my  design  is  lawful,  and 
rather  allowed  than  forbidden  by  God. 

XVI.  "  Nevertheless,  if  my  attempt  on  this  side  suc- 
ceed not,  a  human  fear  urges  me  to  demand  the  Emperor's 
consent,  which,  as  I  have  hinted,  is  not  to  be  despised. 
For  I  am  convinced  that  I  shall  obtain  all  I  j)lease,  upon 
giving  a  considerable  sum  of  money  to  some  of  his  coun- 
cillors. But  although  I  will  not  for  anything  in  the  world 
withdraw  myself  from  the  Gospel,  nor  (by  divine  help) 
allow  myself  to  be  engaged  in  any  affair  contrary  to  the 
interest  of  the  cause,  I  am,  nevertheless,  afraid  lest  the 
imperialists  should  draw  me  into  something  not  conducive 
to  its  interests,  or  that  of  this  party.  I  therefore  call  on 
them  to  afford  me  the  redress  I  seek,  lest  I  should  go  seek 
it  in  some  other  place  less  willingly :  desirous  a  thousand 
times  rather  to  confide  in  such  permission  as  they  can 
grant  me,  with  good  conscience  before  God,  than  to  trust 
in  the  Emperor's  or  any  human  permission  whatever  ;  in 
whichj  however,  I  could  place  no  trust  at  a'1,  unless  I  was 


BUCER.  208 

not  moreover  sure  that  it  is  founded  on  Holy  Writ,  as 
declared  above. 

XVII.  "Lastly,  I  repeat  my  petition  to  Luther,  Philip, 
and  Bucer,  for  their  written  opinion  on  this  matter,  in 
order  that  henceforth  I  may  amend  my  life,  draw  nigh 
with  a  good  conscience  to  the  Sacrament ;  and  undertake 
more  freely  and  readily  the  affairs  of  our  religion.  Given 
at  Melsingnen,  the  Sunday  after  Catherine's  Day,  in  the 
year  1539. 

Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse." 

Bucer  conducted  this  most  delicate  affair  with  his  usual 
skill,  and  to  his  persuasions  we  may  venture  to  attribute 
the  subsequent  conduct  of  the  Pieformers.  The  result  of 
the  consultation  of  Luther,  and  the  other  doctors  of  his 
persuasion,  concerning  polygamy,  was  stated  in  the  follow- 
ing letter  to  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  : — 

"  We  have  been  informed  by  Bucer,  and  in  the  instruc- 
tion which  your  highness  gave  him,  have  read,  the  trouble 
of  mind,  and  the  uneasiness  of  conscience  your  highness 
is  under  at  this  present ;  and  although  it  seemed  to  us  very 
difficult  so  speedily  to  answer  the  doubts  proposed;  never- 
theless we  would  not  permit  the  said  Bucer,  who  was 
urgent  for  his  return  to  your  highness,  to  go  away  without 
an  answer  in  writing. 

"  It  has  been  a  subject  of  the  greatest  joy  to  us,  and 
we  have  praised  God,  for  that  he  has  recovered  your 
highness  from  a  dangerous  fit  of  sickness,  and  we  pray 
that  he  will  long  continue  this  blessing  of  perfect  health 
both  in  body  and  mind. 

"  Your  highness  is  not  ignorant  how  great  need  our 
poor  miserable,  little,  and  abandoned  Church  stands  in  of 
virtuous  princes  and  rulers  to  protect  her ;  and  we  doubt 
not  but  God  will  always  supply  her  with  some  such, 
although  from  time  to  time  he  threatens  to  deprive  her  of 
them,  and  proves  her  by  sundry  temptations. 

"  These  things  seem  to  us  of  greatest  imjDortance  in  the 
question  which  Bucer  has  proposed  to  us  :  your  highness 


UOi  BUCER. 

sufl&ciently  of  yourself  comprehends  the  difference  there  is 
betwixt  settling  an  universal  law,  (and  using  for  urgent 
reasons  and  with  God's  permission)  a  dispensation  in  a 
particular  case  :  for  it  is  otherwise  evident  that  no  dispen- 
sations can  take  place  against  the  first  of  all  laws,  the 
Divine  law. 

"  We  cannot  at  jyresent  advise  to  introduce  publicly, 
and  establish  as  a  law  in  the  New  Testament,  that  of  the 
Old,  which  permitted  to  have  more  wives  than  one.  Your 
highness  is  sensible,  should  any  such  thing  be  printed, 
that  it  would  be  taken  for  a  precept,  whence  infinite  trou- 
bles and  scandals  would  arise.  We  beg  your  highness  to 
consider  the  dangers  a  man  would  be  exposed  unto,  who 
should  be  convicted  of  having  brought  into  Germany  such 
a  law,  which  would  divide  families,  and  involve  them  in 
endless  strifes  and  disturbances. 

"  As  to  the  objection  that  may  be  made,  that  what  is 
just  in  God's  sight  ought  absolutely  to  be  permitted,  it 
must  be  answered  in  this  manner.  If  that  which  is  just 
before  God,  be  besides  commanded  and  necessary,  the 
objection  is  true  :  if  it  be  neither  necessary  nor  com- 
manded, other  circumstances,  before  it  be  permitted, 
must  be  attended  to ;  and  to  come  to  the  question  in 
hand :  God  hath  instituted  marriage  to  be  a  society  of  two 
persons  and  no  more,  supposing  nature  were  not  cor- 
rupted; and  this  is  the  sense  of  that  text  of  Genesis, 
'  There  shall  be  two  in  one  flesh,'  and  this  was  observed 
at  the  beginning. 

"  Lamech  was  the  first  that  married  many  wives,  and 
the  Scripture  witnesses  that  this  custom  was  introduced 
conti'ary  to  the  first  Institution. 

"  It  nevertheless  passed  into  custom  among  infidel 
nations ;  and  we  even  find  afterwards,  that  Abraham  and 
his  posterity  had  many  wives.  It  is  also  certain  from 
Deuteronomy,  that  the  law  of  Moses  permitted  it  after- 
wards, and  that  God  made  an  allowance  for  frail  nature. 
Since  it  is  then  suitable  to  the  creation  of  men,  and  to 
the  first  establishment  of  their  society,  that  each  one  be 


BUCER.  205 

content  with  one  wife,  it  thence  follows  that  the  law  en- 
joining it  is  praiseworthy ;  that  it  ought  to  be  received  in 
the  Church  ;  and  no  law  contrary  thereto  be  introduced 
into  it,  because  Jesus  Christ  has  repeated  in  the  nine- 
teenth chapter  of  St.  Matthew  that  text  of  Genesis, 
'There  shall  be  two  in  one  flesh:'  and  brings  to  man's 
remembrance  what  marriage  ought  to  have  been  before  it 
degenerated  from  its  purity. 

"  In  certain  cases,  however,  there  is  room  for  dispensation. 
For  example,  if  a  married  man,  detained  captive  in  a 
distant  country,  should  there  take  a  second  wife,  in  order 
to  preserve  or  recover  his  health,  or  that  his  own  became 
leprous,  we  see  not  how  we  could  condemn,  in  these  cases, 
such  a  man  as,  by  the  advice  of  his  pastor,  should  take 
another  wife,  provided  it  were  not  with  a  design  of  intro- 
ducing a  new  law,  but  with  an  eye  only  to  his  own  parti- 
cular necessities. 

"  Since  then  the  introducing  a  new  law,  and  the  using 
a  dispensation  with  respect  to  the  same  law,  are  two  very 
different  things,  we  intreat  your  highness  to  take  what 
follows  into  consideration. 

"  In  the  first  place,  above  all  things,  care  must  be 
taken,  that  plurality  of  wives  be  not  introduced  into  the 
world  by  way  of  law,  for  every  man  to  follow  as  he  thinks 
fit.  In  the  second  place,  may  it  please  your  highness  to 
reflect  on  the  dismal  scandal  which  would  not  fail  to 
happen,  if  occasion  be  given  to  the  enemies  of  the  Gospel 
to  exclaim,  that  we  are  like  the  Anabaptists,  who  have 
several  wives  at  once,  and  the  Turks,  who  take  as  many 
wdves  as  they  are  able  to  maintain. 

"  In  the  third  place  that  the  actions  of  princes  are 
more  widely  spread  than  those  of  private  men. 

"  Fourthly,  that  inferiors  are  no  sooner  informed  what 
their  superiors  do,  but  they  imagine  they  may  do  the 
same,  and  by  that  means  licentiousness  becomes  uni- 
versal. 

"  Fifthly,  that  your  highness's  estates  are  filled  with 
an  intractable  nobility,  for  the  most  part  very  averse  to 


206  BUCER. 

the  Gospel,  on  account  of  the  hopes  they  are  in,  as  in 
other  countries,  of  obtaining  the  benefices  of  cathedral 
Churches,  the  revenues  whereof  are  very  great.  We  know 
the  impertinent  discourses  vented  by  the  most  illustrious 
of  your  nobility,  and  it  is  easily  seen  how  they  and  the 
rest  of  your  subjects  would  be  disposed,  in  case  your  high- 
ness should  authorize  such  a  novelty. 

"  Sixthly,  that  your  highness,  by  the  singular  grace  of 
God,  hath  a  great  reputation  in  the  empire  and  foreign 
countries ;  and  it  is  to  be  feared  lest  the  execution  of  this 
project  of  a  double  marriage  should  greatly  diminish  this 
esteem  and  respect.  The  concurrence  of  so  many  scan- 
dals, obliges  us  to  beseech  your  highness  to  examine  the 
thing  with  all  the  maturity  of  judgment  God  has  endowed 
you  with. 

"  With  no  less  earnestness  do  we  intreatyour  highness, 
by  all  means,  to  avoid  fornication  and  adultery ;  and,  to 
own  the'  truth  sincerely,  we  have  a  long  time  been  sen- 
sibly grieved  to  see  your  highness  abandoned  to  such 
impurities,  which  might  be  followed  by  the  effects  of  the 
Divine  vengeance,  distempers,  and  many  other  dangerous 
consequences. 

"We  also  beg  of  your  highness  not  to  entertain  a  no- 
tion, that  the  use  of  women  out  of  marriage  is  but  a  light 
and  trifling  fault,  as  the  world  is  used  to  imagine  :  since 
God  hath  often  chastised  impurity  with  the  most  severe 
punishment :  and  that  of  the  deluge  is  attributed  to  the 
adulteries  of  the  great  ones :  and  the  adultery  of  David 
has  afforded  a  terrible  instance  of  the  Divine  vengeance  : 
and  St.  Paul  repeats  frequently,  that  God  is  not  mocked 
with  impunity,  and  that  adulterers  shall  not  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God.  For  it  is  said,  in  the  second  chap- 
ter of  the  first  Epistle  to  Timothy,  that  obedience  must  be 
the  companion  of  faith,  in  order  to  avoid  acting  against 
conscience ;  and  in  the  third  chapter  of  the  first  of  St. 
John  ;  if  our  heart  condemn  us  not,  we  may  call  upon  the 
name  of  God  with  joy  :  and  in  the  eighth  chapter  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  if  by  the  spirit  we  mortify  the 


BUCER.  207 

desires  of  the  flesh,  we  shall  live :  but,  on  the  contrary, 
we  shall  die,  if  we  walk  according  to  the  flesh,  that  is,  if 
we  act  against  our  own  consciences. 

"  We  have  related  these  passages,  to  the  end  that  jour 
highness  may  consider  'seriously  that  God  looks  not  on 
the  vice  of  impurity  as  a  laughing  matter,  as  is  supposed 
by  those  audacious  libertines,  who  entertain  heathenish 
notions  on  this  subject.  We  are  pleased  to  find  that 
your  highness  is  troubled  with  remorse  of  conscience  for 
these  disorders.  The  management  of  the  most  important 
affairs  in  the  world  is  now  incumbent  on  your  highness, 
who  is  of  a  very  delicate  and  tender  complexion  ;  sleeps 
but  little  ;  and  these  reasons,  which  have  obliged  so  many 
prudent  persons  to  manage  their  constitutions,  are  more 
than  sufficient  to  prevail  with  your  highness  to  imitate 
them. 

"  We  read  of  the  incomparable  Scanderbeg,  who  so 
frequently  defeated  the  two  most  powerful  Emperors  of 
the  Turks,  Amurat  II.  and  Mahomet  II.,  and  whilst  alive, 
preserved  Greece  from  their  tyranny,  that  he  often  ex- 
horted his  soldiers  to  chastity,  and  said  to  them,  that 
there  was  nothing  so  hurtful  to  men  of  their  profession,  as 
venereal  pleasures.  And  if  your  highness,  after  marrying 
a  second  wife,  were  not  to  forsake  those  licentious  dis- 
orders, the  remedy  proposed  would  be  to  no  purpose. 
Every  one  ought  to  be  master  of  his  own  body  in  external 
actions,  and  see,  according  to  the  expression  of  St.  Paul, 
that  his  members  be  the  arms  of  justice.  May  it  please 
your  highness,  therefore,  impartially  to  examine  the  con- 
siderations of  scandal,  of  labours,  of  care,  of  trouble,  and 
of  distempers,  which  have  been  represented.  And  at  the 
same  time  remember  that  God  has  given  you  a  numerous 
issue  of  such  beautiful  children  of  both  sexes  by  the  prin- 
cess your  wife,  that  you  have  reason  to  be  satisfied  there- 
with. How  many  others,  in  marriage,  are  obliged  to  the 
exercise  and  practice  of  patience,  from  the  motive  only  of 
avoiding  scandal  ?  We  are  far  from  urging  on  your  high- 
ness to  introduce   so  difficult  a  novelty  into  your  family. 


'208  BUCER. 

By  so  doing,  we  should  draw  upon  ourselves  not  only  the 
reproaches  and  persecution  of  those  of  Hesse,  but  of  all 
other  people.  The  which  would  be  so  much  the  less 
supportable  to  us,  as  God  commands  us  in  the  ministry 
which  we  exercise,  as  much  as  we  are  able,  to  regulate 
marriage,  and  all  the  other  duties  of  human  life,  accord- 
ing to  the  Divine  Institution,  and  maintain  them  in  that 
state,  and  remove  all  kind  of  scandal. 

"  It  is  now  customary  among  worldlings,  to  lay  the  blame 
of  every  thing  upon  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel.  The 
heart  of  man  is  equally  fickle  in  the  more  elevated  and 
lower  stations  of  life ;  and  much  have  we  to  fear  on  that 
score. 

"  As  to  what  your  highness  says,  that  it  is  not  possible 
for  you  to  abstain  from  this  impure  life,  we  wish  you  were 
in  a  better  state  before  God,  that  you  lived  with  a  secure 
conscience,  and  laboured  for  the  salvation  of  your  own 
soul,  and  the  welfare  of  your  subjects. 

"  But  after  all,  if  your  highness  is  fully  resolved  to  marry 
a  second  wife,  w^e  judge  it  ought  to  be  done  secretly,  as  we 
have  said  with  respect  to  the  dispensation  demanded  on 
the  same  account,  that  is,  that  none  but  the  person  you 
shall  w^ed,  and  a  few  trusty  persons,  know  of  the  matter, 
and  they,  too,  obliged  to  secrecy  under  the  seal  of  confes- 
sion. Hence  no  contradiction  nor  scandal  of  moment  is 
to  be  apprehended ;  for  it  is  no  extraordinary  thing  for 
princes  to  keep  concubines  ;  and  though  the  vulgar  should 
be  scandalized  thereat,  the  more  intelligent  would  doubt 
of  the  truth,  and  prudent  persons  would  approve  of  this 
moderate  kind  of  life,  preferably  to  adultery,  and  other 
brutal  actions.  There  is  no  need  of  being  much  concerned 
for  what  men  will  say,  provided  all  goes  right  with  con- 
science. So  far  do  we  approve  it,  and  in  those  circum- 
stances only  by  us  specified;  for  the  Gospel  hath  neither 
recalled  nor  forbid  what  was  permitted  in  the  law  of 
Moses  with  respect  to  marriage.  Jesus  Christ  has  not 
changed  the  external  economy,  but  added  justice  only, 
and  life  everlasting,  for  reward.      He  teaches  the  true  way 


BUCER.  20Q 

of  obeying  God,   and  endeavours  to  repair  the  corruption 
of  nature. 

"Your  highness  hath  therefore,  in  this  writing,  not  only 
the  approbation  of  us  all,  in  case  of  necessity,  concerning 
what  you  desire,  but  also  the  reflections  we  have  made 
thereupon ;  we  beseech  you  to  weigh  them,  as  becoming  a 
virtuous,  wise,  and  Christian  prince.  We  also  beg  of  God 
to  direct  all  for  His  glory  and  your  highness's  salvation. 

"As  to  your  highness's  thought  of  communicating  this 
affair  to  the  Emperor  before  it  be  concluded,  it  seems  to 
us  that  this  prince  counts  adultery  among  the  lesser  sort 
of  sins ;  and  it  is  very  much  to  be  feared  lest  his  faith 
being  of  the  same  stamp  with  that  of  the  Pope,  the 
Cardinals,  the  Italians,  the  Spaniards,  and  the  Saracens, 
he  make  light  of  your  highness's  proposal,  and  turn  it  to 
his  own  advantage  by  amusing  your  highness  ^vith  vain 
words.  We  know  he  is  deceitful  and  perfidious,  and  has 
nothing  of  the  German  in  him. 

"  Your  highness  sees,  that  he  uses  no  sincere  endea- 
vour to  redress  the  grievances  of  Christendom ;  that  he 
leaves  the  Turk  unmolested,  and  labours  for  nothing  but 
to  divide  the  empire,  that  he  may  raise  up  the  house  of 
Austria  on  its  ruins.  It  is  therefore  very  much  to  be 
^vished  that  no  Christian  prince  would  give  into  his  per- 
nicious schemes.  May  God  preserve  your  highness.  We 
are  most  ready  to  serve  your  highness. 

"  Given  at  Wittemberg  the  Wednesday  after  the  feast 
of  Saint  Nicholas,  1539. 

"  Your  higness's  most  humble,  and  most  obedient 
subjects  and  servants, 

Martin  Luther. 

Philip  Melancthon. 

Martin  Bucer. 

Antony  Corvin. 

Adam. 

John  Leningue. 

Justus  Wintferte. 

Denis  Melanther. 

VOL.  III.  T 


Sia  BUCER. 

"  I  George  Nuspicher,  notary  imperial,  bear  testimoDy 
by  this  present  act,  written  and  signed  with  my  own  hand, 
that  I  have  transcribed  this  present  copy  from  the  trae 
original  which  is  in  Melancthon's  own  handwriting,  and 
hath  been  faithfully  preserved  to  this  present  time,  at  the 
request  of  the  most  serene  Prince  of  Hesse  ;  and  have 
examined  with  the  greatest  exactness  every  line  and  every 
tvord,  and  collated  them  with  the  same  original ;  and  have 
found  them  conformable  thereunto,  not  only  in  the  things 
themselves,  but  also  in  the  signs  manual,  and  have 
delivered  the  present  copy  in  five  leaves  of  good  paper, 
■whereof  I  bear  witness. 

*'  George  Nuspicher,  Notary." 

"  The  marriage  contract  of  Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse 
with  Margaret  de  Saal. 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen. 

**  Be  it  known  to  all  those,  as  well  in  general  as  in  par- 
ticular, who  shall  see,  hear,  or  read  this  public  instru- 
ment, that  in  the  year  1540,  on  Wednesday  the  fourth 
day  of  the  month  of  March,  at  two  o'clock  or  thereabouts, 
in  the  afternoon,  the  thirteenth  year  of  the  Indiction,  and 
the  twenty-first  of  the  reign  of  the  most  puissant  and 
most  victorious  Emperor  Charles  V.,  our  most  gracious 
Lord  ;  the  most  serene  Prince  and  Lord  Philip  Landgrave 
of  Hesse,  Count  of  Catznelenbogen,  of  Dietz,  of  Ziegen- 
hain,  and  Nidda,  with  some  of  his  highness's  counsel- 
lors, on  one  side,  and  the  good  and  virtuous  Lady  Mar- 
garet de  Saal  wdth  some  of  her  relations,  on  the  other 
side,  have  appeared  before  me,  notary  and  witness  under- 
written, in  the  city  of  Rotenburg,  in  the  castle  of  the  same 
city,  with  the  design  and  will  publicly  declared  before  me, 
notary  public  and  witness,  to  unite  themselves  by  mar- 
riage ;  and  accordingly  my  most  gracious  Lord  and  Prince 
Philip  the  Landgrave  hath  ordered  this  to  be  proposed  by 
the  Reverend  Denis  Melander  preacher  to  his  highness, 
much  to  the  sense  as  follows  :  '  Whereas  the  eye  of  God 


BUCER.  Sli 

searches  all  things,  and  but  little  escapes  the  knowledge 
of  men,  his  highness  declares  that  his  will  is  to  wed  the 
said  Lady  Margaret  de  Saal,  although  the  princess  his 
wife  be  still  living,  and  that  this  action  may  not  be  im- 
puted to  inconstancy  or  curiosity :  to  avoid  scandal  and 
maintain  the  honour  of  the  said  lady,  and  the  reputation 
of  her  kindred,  his  highness  makes  oath  here  before  God, 
and  upon  his  soul  and  conscience,  that  he  takes  her  to 
wife  through  no  levity,  nor  curiosity,  nor  from  any  con- 
tempt of  law,  or  superiors  ;  but  that  he  is  obliged  to  it  by 
such  important,  such  inevitable  necessities  of  body  and 
conscience,  that  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  save  either 
body  or  soul,  without  adding  another  wife  to  his  first 
All  which  his  highness  hath  laid  before  many  learned, 
devout,  prudent,  and  Christian  preachers,  and  consulted 
them  upon  it.  And  these  great  men,  after  examining  the 
motives  represented  to  them,  have  advised  his  highness  to 
put  his  soul  and  conscience  at  ease  by  this  double  mar- 
riage. And  the  same  cause  and  the  same  necessity  have 
obliged  the  most  serene  princess,  Christina  Duchess  of 
Saxony,  his  highness's  first  lawful  wife,  out  of  her  great 
prudence  and  sincere  devotion,  for  which  she  is  so  much 
to  be  commended,  freely  to  consent  and  admit  of  a  part- 
ner, to  the  end,  that  the  soul  and  body  of  her  most  dear 
spouse  may  run  no  further  risk,  and  the  glory  of  God  may 
be  increased,  as  the  deed  written  with  this  princess's  own 
hand  sufficiently  testifies.  And  lest  occasion  of  scandal 
be  taken  from  its  not  being  the  custom  to  have  two  wives, 
although  this  be  Christian  and  lawful  in  the  present  case, 
his  highness  will  not  solemnize  these  nuptials  in  the 
ordinary  way,  that  is,  publicly  before  many  people,  and 
with  the  wonted  ceremonies,  wdth  the  said  Margaret  de 
Saal ;  but  both  the  one  and  the  other  will  join  themselves 
in  wedlock,  privately  and  without  noise,  in  presence  only 
of  the  witnesses  underwritten.' 

"  After  Melander  had  finished  his  discourse,  the  said 
Philip  and  the  said  Margaret  accepted  of  each  other  for 
husband  and  wife,  and  promised  mutual  fidelit^^  in  the 


a  12  BUCER 

name  of  God.  The  said  prince  hath  required  of  me, 
notary  underwritten,  to  draw  liim  one  or  more  collected 
copies  of  this  contract,  and  hath  also  promised,  on  the 
word  and  faith  of  a  prince,  to  me  a  public  person,  to  ob- 
serve it  inviolably,  always  and  without  alteration,  in  pre- 
sence of  the  Reverend  and  most  learned  masters  Philip 
Melancthon,  Martin  Bucer,  Denis  Melander :  and  likewise 
in  the  presence  of  the  illustrious  and  valiant  Eberhard  de 
Than,  counsellor  of  his  electoral  highness  of  Saxony, 
Herman  de  Malsberg,  Herman  de  Hundelshausen,  the 
Lord  John  Fegg  of  the  chancery,  Rodulph  Schenck  ;  and 
also  in  the  presence  of  the  most  honourable  and  most 
virtuous  Lady  Anne  of  the  family  of  Miltitz,  widow  of  the 
late  John  de  Saal,  and  mother  of  the  spouse,  all  in 
quality  of  requisite  witnesses  for  the  validity  of  the  pre- 
sent act. 

"  And  I  Balthasar  Rand,  of  Fuld,  notary  public  im- 
perial, who  was  present  at  the  discourse,  instruction, 
marriage,  espousals,  and  union  aforesaid,  with  the  said 
witnesses,  and  have  heard  and  seen  all  that  passed,  have 
wTitten  and  subscribed  the  present  contract,  being  re- 
quested so  to  do  ;  and  set  to  it  the  usual  seal,  for  a 
testimonial  of  the  truth  thereof. 

"Balthasar  Rand." 

Bucer  seemed  to  be  consistent  only  in  his  hostility  to 
the  Papists.  To  form  a  compact  party  against  them  he 
was  prepared  to  sacrifice  truth  itself;  he  was  a  party  man, 
and  when  he  was  assailed  on  any  point  tending  to  Popery 
he  was  firm.  Vacillating  and  ready  to  concede  as  he  had 
been  in  all  conferences  between  Lutherans  and  Zuinglians, 
ready  as  he  was  to  think  with  Zuinglius,  and  to  speak 
with  Luther,  yet,  when,  in  1548,  he  was  sent  for  to  Augs- 
burg to  sign  the  Formula  ad  Interim,  which  Charles  V., 
partly  to  vent  his  resentment  against  the  Pope,  and 
partly  for  political  purposes,  had  caused  to  be  drawn  up, 
Bucer  steadily  refused  to  comply.  The  one  point  on 
which  he  had  made  up  his  mind  was  now  touched  upon. 


BUCiEii.  213 

his  only  principle  attacked,  and  he  was  firm.  In  the 
Interim  the  spiritual  peculiarities  of  the  Romish  system 
were  retained,  though  softened  and  mitigated  by  the 
moderate  and  prudent  terms  in  which  they  were  ex- 
pressed. Following  the  example  of  Bucer,  the  compilers 
of  the  Interim  had  purposely  adopted  an  ambiguity  in 
many  of  the  expressions,  which  rendered  them  applicable 
to  the  sentiments  of  either  Romanists  or  Protestants.  It 
was  Bucer's  principle  in  the  formation  of  confessions  of 
Faith  applied  on  a  larger  scale.  He  adopted  ambiguous 
expressions  to  unite  the  divided  Reformers,  and  bring 
together  Lutherans  and  Zuinglians ;  the  Interim  was 
designed  to  unite  these  again  with  the  Romanists.  Bucer 
was  not  to  be  caught  in  the  net  that  he  had  himself  laid 
for  others.  In  vain  did  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  urge 
him  to  yield,  Bucer  was  resolute  on  this  point,  and  was, 
consequently,  involved  in  many  difficulties  and  some 
danger,  being  hated  by  Romanists,  and  distrusted  by 
Protestants. 

The  very  circumstances  which  were  injurious  to  Bucer's 
usefulness  on  the  continent  marked  him  out  as  a  man 
likely  to  be  useful  to  the  Lord  Ai-chbishop  of  Canterbury, 
Dr.  Cranmer.  He  was  a  strong  anti- Romanist,  and  at  the 
same  time  not  pledged  to  any  decided  views  on  the  Pro- 
testant side :  powerful  on  the  negative  side  of  religion, 
open  to  conviction  on  the  doctrinal  points  not  bearing 
upon  Rome. 

The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  offered  him  his  patron- 
age, and  invited  him  to  England.  The  invitation  was 
accepted,  and  we  may  say  unfortunately  accepted,  for  he 
obtained  some  influence  over  the  gentle  but  too  pliant 
mind  of  the  Archbishop,  who  bore  so  prominent  a  part  in 
the  early  Reformation  of  our  Church.  Whenever  he  was 
consulted,  the  question  which  presented  itself  to  Bucer's 
mind,  was  not  what  is  truth,  but  what  will  tell  against 
Rome. 

When  he  arrived  in  England  Bucer  was  kindly  received 
2t 


2U  BUCER., 

and  hospitably  entertained  by  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury. He  was  soon  after  sent  to  Cambridge,  where 
ample  provision  was  made  for  him,  and  he  was  licensed  to 
teach  theology. 

Peter  Martyr,  another  foreigner,  occupied  a  similar 
post  at  Oxford,  where,  in  a  public  disputation  with 
those  members  of  our  Church  who  held  the  Romish  doc- 
trine of  the  Eucharist,  he  maintained,  First,  that  in  the 
Sacrament  of  the  Eucharist  the  bread  and  wine  are  not 
transubstantiated  into  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ; 
Secondly,  that  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  are  not  cor- 
porally or  carnally  in  the  bread  and  wine,  or,  as  some  ex- 
press themselves,  under  the  species  of  bread  and  wine ; 
Thirdly,  that  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  are  sacra- 
mentally  united  to  the  bread  and  wine.  Peter  Martyr 
sent  a  copy  of  the  conference  to  Bucer,  expressing  his 
fears  lest  he  should  not  agree  with  him.  Bucer  s  answer, 
as  taken  from  his  Script.  Anglican,  may  be  seen  in 
Collier's  Eccles.  Hist.  p.  274,  who  justly  observes,  that  it 
is  in  many  places  intricate  and  involved ;  but  Bucer  seems 
to  admit  much  more  than  would  be  admitted  by  many  in 
these  days,  for  he  cannot  "  comprehend  how  it  can  be 
maintained  as  a  Catholic  tenet,  that  Christ  is  not  really  and 
substantially  given  and  received  in  the  Holy  Eucharist." 
And  again,  "  although  he  denies  a  corjDoral  or  local  pre- 
sence in  the  Holy  Eucharist,  yet  he  thinks  we  ought  to 
be  close  to  the  terms  of  Scripture,  and  the  manner  of  ex- 
pression used  by  the  ancient  Church.  Now  in  the  language 
of  the  New  Testament  and  the  fathers  the  exhibiting — 
(shewing  forth,) — of  Christ  is  fully  expressed.  By  which 
we  understand  the  presence  of  our  Lord,  and  not  any 
mock  of  remembrance  which  supposes  him  absent.  It  is 
true  the  bread  and  wine  are  properly  called  signs  with 
relation  to  something  further,  and  so  is  the  whole  solem- 
nity. But  then  these  signs  or  references  to  something 
past  are  not  the  principal  things  in  this  Holy  Sacrament. 
The  exhibiting  and  spiritual  manducation  of  Christ,  is  the 


BUCER.  215 

most  beneficial  and  glorious  part  of  the  Communion  :  and 
therefore  the  fathers  chose  rather  to  express  the  mystery 
by  the  term  of  representing  than  that  of  signifying."  In 
another  place  he  remarks  that  he  is  afraid  if  the  conference 
should  be  made  public,  from  some  expressions  made  use 
of  by  Peter  Martyr,  that  the  reader  might  suppose  him  to 
teach  that  "  the  benefit  of  communicating  reached  no  fur- 
ther than  to  the  refreshing  of  our  faith,  and  bringing  our 
Saviour  more  strongly  to  the  memory,  serving  only  to  give 
a  more  lively  and  affecting  idea  of  the  blessing  of  our 
redemption,  and  to  suggest  thoughts  to  be  cherished  and 
improved  by  the  Holy  Spirit."  "The  reader,  I  am  afraid," 
continues  Bucer,  "  will  intei-pret  you  to  no  higher  mean- 
ing than  this ;  he  will  not  imagine  you  to  assert  that  as 
Christ  first  commnnicated  Himself  to  His  members  in  bap- 
tism, so  He  exhibits  Himself  more  and  inore  present,  (amplius 
et  amplius  exhibeat  presentem,)  in  the  Holy  Eucharist,  and 
communicates  Himself  to  such  a  degree  of  intimacy  ami 
union  that  they  really  sidjsist  and  remain  in  Him,  and  receive 
Him  reciprocally  to  themselves.  In  short,  I  am  afraid  peo- 
ple will  think  you  do  not  hold  the  presence  of  Christ,  but 
only  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  and  the  efiicacy 
consequent  upon  it."  He  afterwards  says,  "  the  blessing 
is  conveyed  through  the  symbols  of  bread  and  wine." 

Such  were  the  views  of  one  who  took  the  lowest  view  of 
the  Holy  Eucharist  among  the  Reformers,  and  such  views 
will  doubtless  astonish  those  Socinianizing  members  of 
the  Church  of  England  of  the  present  day,  who  accuse  of 
Popery  all  who  hold  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  religion.  Bucer  had  at  this  time  adopted 
Calvin's  opinion  on  the  Eucharist,  which  that  reformer 
thus  expressed : — 

"  We  confess  that  the  spiritual  life  vouchsafed  us  by 
Christ  in  this  Sacrament  does  not  only  consist  in  His 
quickening  us  by  His  Spirit :  but  over  and  above  this 
blessing  by  virtue  of  His  Spirit,  He  makes  us  partakers  of 
that  principle  of  life  His  Flesh.  By  which  participation 
we  are  nourished  to  immortal  life.     Therefore  when  we 


216  BUCER. 

mention  the  communion  of  the  faithful  with  Christ,  we 
understand  their  communicating  with  His  Body  and 
Blood,  no  less  than  with  His  Spirit ;  that  thus  they  may 
be  in  possession  of  their  whole  Saviour.  For  the  Scrip- 
ture plainly  declares,  that  His  Flesh  is  meat  to  us  indeed, 
and  His  Blood  is  drink  indeed :  and  if  we  expect  a  life  by 
Christ,  we  ought  to  grow  and  support  ourselves  by  such 
nourishment.  Thus  the  Apostle  had  no  common  meaning, 
when  he  tells  us,  we  are  flesh  of  Christ's  Flesh,  and  bone 
of  His  Bone :  no ;  by  this  language  he  insinuates  our 
communion  or  communication  with  His  Body  ;  a  mystery 
so  sublime  that  no  words  are  able  to  reach  the  dignity  of 
the  thing.  Neither  does  our  Saviour's  ascension,  nor  the 
absence  of  the  local  presence  of  His  Body,  infer  any  in- 
consistency with  this  privilege.  For  notwithstanding  in 
this  state  of  mortality  we  live  at  a  distance,  and  are  not  in 
the  same  place  with  Him,  yet  the  force  of  His  Spirit  is 
not  confined  by  any  corporeal  intei^positions,  nor  hindered 
from  uniting  things,  though  at  the  remotest  intervals  of 
space :  we  acknowledge,  therefore.  His  Spirit  is  the  prin- 
ciple of  union,  and  the  band,  as  it  were,  of  communication 
with  Himself.  But  then  we  desire  to  be  understood  in 
this  sense,  that  this  Holy  Spirit  does  really  feed  us  with 
the  substance  of  our  Lord's  Flesh  and  Blood,  and  quickens 
us  with  the  participation  of  them  for  the  glorious  purposes 
of  immortality.  And  that  Christ  offers  and  exhibits  this 
communion  of  His  Flesh  and  Blood,  under  the  symbols  of 
bread  and  wine,  to  those  who  celebrate  the  Holy  Eucharist 
pursuant  to  His  institution." — Calvins  Epist.  326. 

When  HoojDer,  on  his  nomination  to  the  see  of  Glou- 
cester, refused  to  wear  the  episcopal  vestments,  and  the 
whole  question  relating  to  the  surplice,  &c.,  was  mooted, 
Bucer  was  consulted  ;  and  although  he  wished  "  the  gar- 
ments were  removed  by  law,"  yet,  "  since  those  garments 
had  been  used  by  the  ancient  fathers  before  Popery,  and 
might  still  be  of  good  use  to  the  weak  when  well  under- 
stood," he  wished  Hooper  to  lay  aside  his  objections. 

In  1550  he  had  a  disputation  with  certain  members  of 


BUCER.  217 

our  Church  who  held  Romish  opinions,  and  he  appears 
not  to  have  had  the  best  of  the  argument. 

The  first  English  Prayer  Book  had  been  published  in 
1548.  It  was  a  translation  and  re-arrangement  of  the 
old  offices,  which  had  always  been  used  in  the  Church 
of  England;  it  had  been  revised  and  affirmed  by  the 
Archbishops,  Bishops,  and  Clergy  of  our  Church  in  con- 
vocation assembled ;  it  had  been  accepted  by  the  King, 
and  three  estates  of  the  Parliament,  who  gave  it  their  just 
encomium,  that  the  work  was  done  "  by  the  aid  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."  The  whole  was  so  judiciously  and  wisely 
done,  that  though  neither  the  Romish  Party,  nor  the 
Ultra-protestant  Party,  in  the  Church  were  satisfied,  yet 
both  for  a  time  conformed  to  it. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  1550,  however,  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  so  far  listened  to  the  Ultra-protestant  outcry 
that  he  determined  on  a  revision  of  the  book.  And  Bucer 
was  consulted  by  him  on  the  occasion.  Being  ignorant 
of  our  language,  he  had  the  book  translated  by  a  Scotch- 
man ;  and  though  he  thanked  God  for  having  given  the 
English  grace  to  reform  the  ceremonies,  and  declared  that 
he  found  nothing  in  it  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  he 
proceeded  to  censure  with  not  a  little  freedom  and  pre- 
sumption. His  objections,  and  the  refutation  of  them, 
may  be  seen  in  Collier  s  Eccles.  Hist.  p.  '29G. 

The  objections  of  Bucer  and  Peter  Martyr,  as  is  well 
known,  were  permitted  to  have  undue  weight,  and  operated 
injuriously  to  the  Church  of  England,  when  shortly  after 
alterations  were  made  in  our  ritual,  as  it  was  asserted, 
•'  from  curiosity  rather  than  any  worthy  cause."  A  curious 
reason  to  assign  for  a  change  at  such  a  crisis,  in  such  a 
work. 

Bucer  was  much  noticed  by  young  King  Edward  YI. 
for  whom  he  wrote  a  book  "  Concerning  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,"  which  he  presented  as  a  new  year's  gift.  It  refer- 
red to  the  miseries  of  Germany  and  the  German  reforma- 
tion, and  to  the  want  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  the 
adoption  of  which  he  strongly  recommended  in  England, 


SI  8  BUCKERIDGE. 

beginning  by  a  more  careful  refusal  of  the  Eucharist  to  ill 
livers,  by  the  sanctification  of  the  Lord's  day,  of  holidays, 
and  of  days  of  fasting,  which  last  he  proposed  should  be 
more  numerous  and  less  confined  to  Lent,  a  season  which 
had  been  popularly  disregarded  ;  and  by  the  reduction  of 
non-residence  and  pluralities,  the  true  remnants  of  Popery. 
Bacer  died  at  Cambridge  in  the  close  of  February,  1550, 
and  was  buried  in  St.  Mary's  with  great  ceremony,  his 
remains  being  attended  by  3,000  persons  jointly  from 
the  university  and  the  town.  A  Latin  speech  was  made 
over  his  grave  by  Dr.  Haddon,  the  public  orator,  and  an 
English  sermon  was  then  preached  by  Parker,  afterwards 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury ;  and  on  the  following  day, 
Dr.  Redman,  Master  of  Trinity  College,  preached  at  St. 
Mary's  a  sermon  in  his  commendation.  When  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Mary  the  Romanizing  party  regained  the 
ascendency  in  our  Church  which  they  had  lost  in  the  pre- 
ceding reigns,  among  the  offensive  measures  they  adopted, 
by  which  the  very  name  of  Romanist  has  been  rendered 
odious  to  British  ears,  they  caused  the  remains  of  Bucer 
and  Fagius  to  be  dug  up,  fastened  erect  by  a  chain  to 
stakes  in  the  market-place  and  burnt  to  ashes.  The  heads 
of  houses,  too  subservient  to  the  ruling  powers,  erased 
their  names  at  the  same  time  from  all  public  acts  and 
registers  as  heretics  and  deniers  of  the  true  faith. — Mel- 
chior  Adam.  Strype's  Lives.  Sleidan.  Bossuet.  Burnet. 
Collier.     D'Auhigny.     Samuel    Clark.    Bayle.    Mosheim. 


BUCKEKIDGE,  JOHN. 

This  eminent  divine  was  born  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Marlborough,  in  what  year  is  not  certain.  His 
mother  was  related  to  Sir  Thomas  White,  founder  of 
St.  John's  College,  Oxford.  He  was,  therefore,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  sent  to  Merchant  Tailors'  School, 
and  from  thence  he  was  elected,  in  1578,  to  St.  John's, 
where  he  became  a  fellow  and  tutor.     As  tutor  of  the 


BUCKERIDGE.  219 

college  he  had  the  distinguished  hoDour  of  having 
William  Laud  for  his  pupil.  At  the  latter  end  of  1596 
he  took  his  D.D.  degree.  After  leaving  the  university,  he 
became  chaplain  to  Robert,  Earl  of  Essex,  and  was  rector 
of  North  Fambridge,  in  Essex,  and  of  North  Kilworth,  in 
Leicestershire,  and  was  afterwards  one  of  Archbishop 
Whitgift's  chaplains,  and  made  prebendary  of  Hereford, 
and  of  Rochester.  In  1604  he  was  preferred  to  the  arch- 
deaconry of  Northampton;  and  the  same  year,  Nov.  5, 
was  presented,  by  King  James,  to  the  vicarage  of  St. 
Giles's,  Cripplegate,  in  which  he  succeeded  Dr.  Andrewes, 
then  made  Bishop  of  Chichester.  About  the  same  time 
he  was  chaplain  to  the  King ;  was  elected  President  of 
St.  John's  College,  1605,  and  installed  canon  of  Windsor, 
April  15,  1606. 

Buckeridge  was  now  regarded  as  one  of  the  great 
divines  of  the  day,  and  when  Melville  and  the  Scottish 
faction  were  summoned  before  the  King  in  1606,  Bucke: 
ridge  was  one  of  those  clergymen  who  were  summoned  to 
preach  in  their  presence  at  Hampton  Court.  But  nothing 
could  move  the  hard  hearts  of  the  Scottish  Presbyterians, 
whose  insolence  to  their  Sovereign  disgusted  the  King's 
loyal  subjects  in  England,  and  shewed  of  what  spirit  they 
were.  Buckeridge  took  his  text  out  of  Romans,  xiii.  1, 
and  managed  the  discourse  (as  Archbishop  Spotswood, 
who  was  present,  relates)  both  soundly  and  learnedly,  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all  the  hearers ;  only  it  grieved  the 
Scotch  ministers  to  hear  the  Pope  and  Presbytery  so  often 
equalled  in  their  opposition  to  Sovereign  princes.  Macrie, 
in  his  Life  of  Melville,  says,  "  Dr.  Buckeridge,  President 
of  St.  John's  College,  preached  the  second  sermon  which 
was  intended  to  prove  the  royal  supremacy  in  ecclesiastical 
matters.  It  was  chiefly  borrowed  from  Bilson's  book  on 
that  subject,  with  this  addition,  that  the  preacher  con- 
founded the  doctrine  of  the  Presbyterians  with  that  of  the 
Papists."  This  accords  with  the  character  given  of  him 
by  Wood,  who  says,  that  he  was  a  person  of  great  gravity 
and  learning,  and  one  that  knew  as  well  as  any  other 


S30  BUCKERIDGE. 

person  of  his  time,  how  to  employ  the  two-edged  sword  of 
holy  Scripture  on  the  one  side  against  the  Papists,  and  on 
the  other  against  the  Puritans. 

The  first  sermon  delivered  on  this  occasion,  was 
preached  by  Barlow,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  from  Acts,  xx.  '28. 
in  defence  of  the  antiquity  and  superiority  of  Bishops, 
which  the  Scotch  Presbyterians  with  their  accustomed 
sarcasm  characterized  as  "  a  confutation  of  his  text."  The 
sermon,  says  Melville,  "  was  written  and  finely  compacted 
in  a  little  book,  which  he  always  had  in  his  hand  for  help 
of  his  memorie."  The  Presbyterian  preachers  called  this 
a  "  pulpit  show,"  and  turned  the  whole  into  ridicule. 

In  1611  Buckeridge  was  nominated  to  the  see  of 
Rochester,  to  which  he  was  consecrated  June  9.  After- 
wards, by  the  interest  of  his  grateful  pupil.  Dr.  Laud, 
then  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  he  was  translated  to  Ely, 
upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Felton,  in  16^6. 

On  the  11th  of  November,  16:26,  he  preached  at  St.  Sa- 
\dour's,  Southwark,  the  funeral  sermon  of  the  celebrated 
Bishop  xlndrewes,  that  blessed  Saint  of  the  Church  of 
England.  Buckeridge  took  for  his  text,  Heb.  xiii.  16.  He 
commenced  the  sermon  with  the  following  statement : 

"In  the  tenth  verse  the  Apostle  saith,  'We  have  an 
altar,  of  which  they  have  no  right  to  eat  that  serve 
the  tabernacle.'  Habemus  altare,  'We  have,'  that  is, 
Christians.  So  it  is  pt'oprium  Christianorum,  '  proper  to 
Christians,'  not  common  to  the  Jews  together  with 
Christians ;  they  have  no  right  to  communicate  and  eat 
there,  that  '  serve  the  tabernacle.'  And  yet  it  is  commune 
altare,  '  a  common  altar'  to  all  Christians,  they  have  all 
right  to  eat  there.  And  so  it  is  externum  altare,  not  only 
a  spiritual  altar  in  the  heart  of  every  Christian — then 
St.  Paul  should  have  said  habeo,  or  habet  unusquisque,  '  I 
have,'  and  '  every  Christian  hath  in  private  to  himself — 
but  '  We  have  an  altar,'  that  is,  all  Christians  have  ;  and 
it  must  be  external,  else  all  Christians  cannot  have  it. 

!'  Our  Head,  Christ,  offered  His  sacrifice  of  Himself  upon 
the  cross ;   Criuc  altare  Christi ;  and  the   '  cross  of  Christ 


BUCKERIDGE.  2-21 

was  the  altar'  of  our  Head,  where  He  offered  the  unicum, 
veruni,  et  proprium  sacrijicium,  'the  only,  tme,  proper 
sacrifice,  propitiatory'  for  the  sins  of  mankind,  in  which 
all  other  sacrifices  are  accepted,  and  applicatory  of  this 
propitiation." 

After  shewing  the  incorrectness  of  the  sacrificial  %-iew 
taken  by  the  Romanists,  both  from  Scripture  and  the 
fathers,  he  proceeds  : — 

"  We  deny  not  then  the  daily  sacrifice  of  the  Church, 
that  is,  the  Church  itself,  warranted  by  Scriptures  and 
fathers.  We  take  not  upon  us  to  sacrifice  the  natural 
body  of  Christ  otherwise  than  by  commemoratioD,  as 
Christ  Himself  and  St.  Paul  doth  prescribe.  They  rather 
that  take  a  power  never  given  them  over  the  natural  body 
of  Christ,  which  once  offered  by  Himself  purchased  eternal 
redemption  all-sufficient  for  sin,  to  offer  it  again  and  often, 
never  thinking  of  the  offering  of  Christ's  mystical  body, 
the  Church,  that  is  ourselves,  our  souls  and  bodies — they, 
I  say,  do  destroy  the  daily  sacrifice  of  Christians,  which  is 
most  acceptable  to  God. 

"  Now  then  that  which  went  before  in  the  Head,  Christ, 
on  the  cross,  is  daily  performed  in  the  members,  in  the 
Church.  Christ  there  offered  Himself  once  for  us  ;  we 
daily  offer  ourselves  by  Christ,  that  so  the  whole  mystical 
body  of  Christ  in  due  time  may  be  offered  to  God. 

"  This  was  begun  in  the  Apostles  in  their  Liturgy,  of 
whom  it  is  said,  Ministrantihus  illis,  '  While  they  minis- 
tered and  prayed  the  Holy  Ghost  said  unto  them,'  &c. 
Erasmus  reads  it,  Sacrificantihus  illis,  '  While  they  sacri- 
ficed and  prayed.'  If  they  had  offered  Christ's  natural 
body,  the  Apostles  would  surely  have  made  some  mention 
of  it  in  their  writings,  as  well  as  they  do  of  the  commemo- 
rative sacrifice.  The  word  is  Xst'rovfyovvruv  so  it  is  a  litur- 
gical sacrifice,  or  a  sacrifice  performed  or  offered  in  our 
Liturgy  or  form  of  God's  worship  ;  so  the  offering  of  our- 
selves, our  souls,  and  bodies,  is  a  part  of  divine  worship. 

"Now  as  it  is  not  enough  to  feed  our  own  souls,  unless 

VOL.  III.  u 


•223  BUCKERIDGE. 

we  also  feed  both  the  souls  and  bodies  of  the  poor,  and 
there  is  no  true  fast  unless  we  distribute  that  to  the  poor 
which  we  deny  to  our  own  bellies  and  stomachs ;  and 
there  cannot  be  a  perfect  and  complete  adoration  to  God 
in  our  devotions,  unless  there  be  also  doing  good  and 
distributing  to  our  neighbours ;  therefore  to  the  sacrifice 
of  praise  and  thanksgiving  in  the  Eucharist  in  the  Church, 
mentioned  in  the  fifteenth  verse,  we  must  also  add  bene- 
ficence and  communication  in  this  text ;  for,  Devotio 
dehetur  Capiti,  henejicentia  memhris,  '  The  sacrifice  of  devo- 
tion is  due  to  our  Head,  Christ,  and  piety  and  charity  is 
due  to  the  members.'  So  then,  offer  the  sacrifice  of  praise 
to  God  daily  in  the  church,  as  in  the  fifteenth  verse;  and 
distribute  and  communicate  the  sacrifice  of  compassion 
and  alms  to  the  poor  out  of  the  church,  as  in  this  text. 

"  Shall  I  say  extra  Eccledam,  '  out  of  the  church  ?'  I 
do  not  say  amiss  if  I  do  say  so  ;  yet  I  must  say  also  iiitra 
Ecclesiam ;  this  should  be  a  sacrifice  in  the  church,  the 
Apostles  kept  it  so  in  their  time.  Primo  die,  '  the  first 
day  of  the  week,'  when  they  came  together  to  pray  and  to 
break  bread,  St.  Paul's  rule  was,  separet  unusquisque,  '  let 
every  one  set  apart'  or  '  lay  by  in  store,  as  God  hath  pros- 
pered him,  that  there  be  no  gatherings  when  I  come.' 
And  our  Liturgy  in  the  offertory  tenders  her  prayers  and 
alms  on  the  Lord's-day  or  Sunday,  as  a  part  of  the  sacri- 
fice or  service  of  that  day,  and  of  God's  worship ;  which 
I  wish  were  more  carefully  observed  among  us.  For 
this  also  is  a  Liturgy  or  office,  so  called  by  the  Apostle, 
77  Jiaxovict  rri^  Xetroy pyia?,  '  the  administration  of  this  service,' 
or  '  Office,'  or  'Liturgy  ;'  there  is  the  word  '  Liturgy'  and 
'Office.'  For  the  daily  service  and  sacrifice  not  only  sup- 
plieth  the  want  of  the  saints,  but  is  abundant  also  by 
many  thanksgivings  unto  God.  So  the  Lord's-day,  or 
Sunday,  is  then  best  kept  and  observed,  when  to  our 
prayers  and  praises  and  sacrifices  of  ourselves,  our  souls 
and  bodies,  we  also  add  the  sacrifice  of  our  goods  and 
alms,   and  other  works  of  mercy  to  make  it  up  perfect  and 


BUCKLAND.  223 

complete,  that  there  may  be  opus  diet  in  die  siw,  *  the 
work  of  the  day  in  the  proper  day  thereof,'  and  these  two 
sacrifices  of  praise  and  alms,  joined  here  by  God  and  His 
Apostle,  may  never  be  parted  by  us  in  our  lives  and 
practice." 

The  sermon  concludes  with  an  account  of  that  great 
and  good  prelate,  Bishop  Andrewes,  of  which  use  has 
been  made  in  the  life  of  Andrewes  in  the  present  work. 

Bishop  Buckeridge  did  not  long  survive  his  illustrious 
friend.  Reverenced  by  all  who  knew  him  for  his  deep 
and  severe  personal  piety,  respected  by  his  clergy  as  a 
just  governor,  he  died  on  the  23rd  of  May,  1631,  and  was 
buried  in  the  parish  church  of  Bromley  in  Kent. 

His  works  are, — De  Potestate  Papas  in  Piebus  Tempo- 
ralibus,  sive  in  Regibus  deponendis  usurpata :  adversus 
Robertum  Cardinalem  Bellarminum,  lib.  ii.  In  quibus 
respondetur  Authoribus,  Scripturis,  Rationibus,  Exemplis 
contra  Gul.  Barclaium  allatis,  Lond.  1614,  4to ;  a  very- 
able  work.  He  published,  also,  A  Discourse  on  Kneeling 
at  the  Communion,  and  some  occasional  sermons. — Wood. 
Andrewes'  Works.  Spotswood.  Macries  Life  of  Melville. 
Bentliams  Ely. 


BUCKLAND,    RALPH. 

Ralph  BTJCKLA^'D  was  born  at  West  Harptre  in  Somer- 
setshire, about  1564,  and  in  1579  he  entered  as  a  com- 
moner in  Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  and  afterwards  passed 
some  years  in  one  of  the  inns  of  court.  Having  at  last 
embraced  the  Popish  religion,  he  spent  seven  years  in  the 
English  College  at  Rheims,  whence  he  removed  to  Rome ; 
and  being  ordained  priest,  returned  to  England,  acted  as 
a  missionary  for  about  twenty  years,  and  died  in  1611. 
He  published, — 1.  A  Translation  of  the  Lives  of  the 
Saints,  from  Surius.  2.  A  Persuasive  against  frequent- 
ing Protestant  Churches,  12mo.  3.  Seven  Sparks  of  the 
Enkindled  Flame,  with  Four  Lamentations,  composed  in 
the  hard  times  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  12mo.     From  this 


024  BUDDEUS. 

book,  Archbishop  Usher,  in  a  sermon  preached  at  St. 
Mary's,  Oxford,  in  1640,  on  November  5,  produced  some 
passages  which  he  beheved  to  hint  at  the  gunpowder 
plot.  4.  De  Persecutione  Vandihea,  a  translation  from 
the  Latin  of  Victor,  Bishop  of  Biserte  or  Utica. — Wood. 
Dod. 


BUDDEUS,    JOHN    FRANCIS. 

John  Francis  Buddeus  was  born  in  1667  at  Anclam, 
in  Pomerania.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  was  sent  to  the 
university  of  Wittemberg,  where  he  took  his  master's 
degree  in  1687;  and  two  years  afterwards  became  assis- 
tant professor  of  philosophy.  He  removed  from  thence  to 
Jena,  next  to  Copenhagen,  and  afterwards  to  Halle,  but 
returned  to  Jena  to  take  the  chair  of  theology  in  1705. 
He  died  in  1729. 

He  was  a  distinguished  contributor  to  the  Acta  Erudi- 
torum  of  Leipsic,  and  to  the  great  Historical  Dictionary, 
printed  there  in  1709,  in  folio,  and  published  under  his 
direction  and  with  his  name.  He  also  published,  1.  De 
Peref^rinationibus  Pythagorse,  Jena,  1692,  folio.  2.  Ele- 
menta  Philosophise  Practicse,  Instmmentalis  et  Theoreticae, 
3  vols,  8vo.  1697.  3.  Institutiones  Theologiae  Moralis, 
1711,  4to,  often  reprinted.  4.  Historia  Juris  Naturae, 
Jena,  1695,  Ley  den,  1711,  Halle,  1717,  8vo.  5.  Sapientia 
Veterum,  hoc  est,  Dicta  Illustriora  septem  Graeciae  Sapi- 
entum,  Halle,  1699,  4to.  6.  Introductio  ad  Historiam 
Philosophise  Ebraeorum,  ib.  1702.  7.  Analecta  Historiae 
Philosophicse,  ib.  1706,  1724,  8vo.  8.  Compendium 
Historise  Philosophicse,  ib.  1731,  8vo.  9.  Ecclesia  Apos- 
tolica,  sive  de  Statu  Ecclesias  sub  Apostolis,  Jena,  1729, 
8vo.  10.  Historia  Ecclesiastica  Veteris  Testamenti,  1715, 
1718,  2  vols,  4to,  a  valuable  work.  11.  Institutiones 
Theologicae,  Dogmaticae,  variis  Observationibus  illustratae, 
1723,  1724,  1726,  3  vols.  4to.  12.  Miscellanea  Sacra, 
1727,  3  vols,  4to. 


BUGENHAGIUS.  225 

BUGENHAGIUS,  JOHN. 

John  Bugenhagius,  sumamed  from  his  country  Pomer- 
anus,  was  born  at  Wollin  in  Pomerania,  on  the  24th  of 
June,  1485.     His  parents,  who  were  of  senatorial  rank, 
took  considerable  pains  with  his  education  until  he  was  of 
age  to  go  to  the  university  of  Grypswald,  where  he  devoted 
himself  so  assiduously  to  classical  studies,   that  he  \Yas 
appointed  at  the  age  of  twenty  to  the  mastership  of  the 
school  at  Treptow,  where  he  became  distinguished  as  a 
teacher.      He  attended  to  the  religious   as  well    as   the 
classical  education    of  his  pupils,   and  being  a  man  of 
literature,  his  attention  was  naturally  directed  to  the  works 
of  so  distinguished  a  scholar  as  Erasmus.    The  writings  of 
Erasmus  against  the  friars  and  the  idolatry  of  the  times, 
first  awakened  Bugenhagius  to  the  necessity  of  a  reformation 
of  the   Church,   a  subject  upon  which  all  serious  minds 
had  been  long  agreed,  although  none  could  decide  on  the 
proper  manner  of  accomplishing  it.     Bugenhagius  wished 
the  minds  of  others  to  receive  the  same  impression  as  his 
own,  and  therefore  in  his  school  he  lectured  on  the  Psalm's, 
St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  the  Epistles  to  Timothy,  together 
with  the  Apostles'  Creed  and  the  Ten  Commandments. 
These  lectures  became  public  from  the  desire  people  had 
to  attend  them ;  and  when  soon  after  he  was  ordained 
priest,  he  became  popular  as  a  preacher,  and  his  sphere  of 
usefulness  was  extended.     How  high  his  character  stood 
among  his  countrymen  at  this  time  is  shewn  by  his  having 
been  engaged  by  Prince  Bogislas  to  write  a  history  of 
Pomerania.     This  work,  which  he  completed  in  the  course 
of  two  years,  was  not  published  till  1728.     The  prince  at 
first  received  it  in  manuscript,  for  the  use  of  himself  and 
his  court,  and  afterwards,  perhaps,  neglected  it,   as  his 
regard  for  Bugenhagius  ceased  when  the  latter  became  a 
Lutheran.     The  prince  and  his  spiritual  advisers  were 
not  unwilling  to  hear  of  a  reformation  of  the  Church,  but 
to  the  reformation  of  Luther  they  were  opposed,  and  the 
2u 


226  BUGENHAGIUS. 

very  suspicion  of  being  a  Lutheran  was  sure  to  involve  a 
man  in  difficulties. 

One  eveniog  towards  the  end  of  December,   1520,  as 
Bugenhagius  sat  at  supper  with  with  some  friends,  a  copy 
of  Luther's  book  on  the  Babylonish  Captivity  was  put  into 
his  hands,  "  Since   Christs  death,  said  he,   after  having 
glanced  it  over,  there  have  been  many  heretics  to  vex  the 
Church,  but  never  yet  has  there  risen  up  such  a  pest  as 
the  author  of  this  book."     But  Bugenhagius  was  apt  to 
form  his  judgment  hastily,  and  on  perusing  the  book  more 
carefully,  his  opinion  was  expressed  as  violently  in  favour 
of  Luther  as  it  had  before  been  against  him,  and  in  a  few 
days  he  declared  as  dogmatically  and  with  as  little  discre- 
tion as  before,  "  the  whole  world  has  been  lying  in  thick 
darkness.     This  man,   and  none  but  he,   has  discovered 
the  truth."      This  monstrous  proposition  must  have  as- 
tonished those  to  whom  it  was  propounded.     All  men  had 
been  ignorant  of  God's  truth  until  Luther  discovered  it ! 
And  Bugenhagius  was  qualified,  after  a  few  days  study,  to 
pronounce  upon  the  infallibility  of  this  new  pope  !   A  man 
s'o  vehement,   however,  was  sure  to  find  supporters,  some 
priests,  a  deacon,   and  an  abbot,  became  his  partizans, 
embraced  Lutheranism,  called  by  D'Aubigny,   "  the  pure 
doctrine  of  salvation,"  and  created  a  considerable  sensation 
and  disturbance.     The  Prince  and  the  Bishop  very  natu- 
rally attempted  to  put  a  stop  to  these  proceedings,  and 
have  been  called  on  that  accouut  by  some  historians  perse- 
cutors, though  such  sort  of  persecution  has  been  resorted 
to,   as  the  means  of  preventing  riot  and  confusion,  by 
Protestants   not   less   than    by    Papists.       Bugenhagius, 
having  made  the  place   too  hot  for  his  residence,  fled  to 
Wittemberg,  where  the  Protestant  movement  was  under 
the  sanction  of  the  state.     By  Luther  he  was  rapturously 
received,  and  was  employed  by  him  in  expounding  the 
Book  of  Psalms,  a  work  for  which,  by  his  previous  studies, 
he  found  him  to  be  prepared. 

When  Luther  was  in  captivity  in  the  castle  of  Wartburg, 


BUGENHAGIUS.  227 

one  of  his  disciples,  Bernard  Feldkirchen,  the  pastor  of 
Kemberg,  in  spite  of  his  vows  of  celibacy,  married.  The 
compulsory  celibacy  of  the  clergy  is  one  of  the  worst  prac- 
tical corruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  would  have 
been  well  if  the  foreign  Reformers,  like  some  of  the  best 
of  our  own,  had  vindicated  the  liberty  for  others,  but 
remained  unmarried  themselves.  They  laid  themselves 
open  to  the  attacks  of  their  enemies,  by  seeking  the 
indulgence  for  themselves,  and  they  were  suspected  of 
having  but  little  respect  for  the  marriage  vow  itself.  If 
they  disregarded  one  vow,  they  might  for  the  sake  of 
expediency,  it  was  argued,  disregard  another.  (See  the  Life 
of  Biicer.)  Luther,  however,  was  prepared  to  defend  the 
conduct  of  his  friend,  which  he  afterwards  imitated  ;  he 
saw  a  distinction  at  first,  which  he  did  not  afterwards 
admit,  between  the  marriage  of  priests  and  j:hat  of  monks. 
Writing  to  Melancthon  he  says,  "  The  priests  are  ordained 
by  God,  and  therefore  they  are  above  the  commandments 
of  men  ;  but  the  friars  have,  of  their  own  accord,  chosen  a 
life  of  celibacy, — they  therefore  are  not  at  liberty  to  with- 
draw from  the  obligation  they  have  laid  themselves  under." 
But  though  he  could  write  thus  sensibly  upon  the  subject 
in  his  cooler  moments,  he  soon  perceived  that  if  he  were 
to  establish  his  party  in  strength,  he  must  annihilate  the 
monastic  system,  and  that  the  most  effectual  mode  of 
doing  this,  was  to  invite  the  monks  to  leave  their  cells  and 
preach  his  doctiines,  by  offering  them  wives  ;  and  in  an 
address  to  his  followers  at  Wittemberg,  he  proclaimed 
liberty  of  marriage  to  the  monks,  and  with  more  of  vehe- 
mence than  charity,  declared  of  convents,  that  they  were 
"  abodes  of  the  devil,''  which,  of  course,  ought  to  be  razed 
to  the  ground. 

Bugenhagius  accorded  in  opinion  with  his  master,  and 
proved  the  sincerity  of  his  principles  by  marrying;  ob- 
serving, what  must  have  occurred  to  others  besides  him- 
self, "  this  business  will  cause  a  great  mutation  in  the 
public  state  of  things." 

When  the   violent  rupture  took  place  between  Carlo- 


•2-^8  BUGENHAGIUS. 

stadt  and  Luther,  the  opinions  of  the  former  dififering 
from  the  decision  of  the  latter  on  the  subject  of  the  Real 
Presence  in  the  Eucharist,  which  Luther  always  main- 
tained, and  when  the  zeal  of  Carlostadt  led  him  on  to 
acts  of  greater  violence  than  Luther  approved,  Bugenha- 
gius  sided  with  Luther.  On  Luther's  return  to  Wittem- 
berg,  he  appointed  Bugenhagius  to  be  the  pastor  of 
Wittemberg,  and  he  presided  over  the  Protestants  there, 
under  Luther's  protection  and  sanction,  for  six  and  thirty 
years. 

Bugenhagius  was  invited  to  Hamburgh  in  1522,  to  draw 
up  doctrinal  articles,  and  form  a  system  for  the  government 
of  the  Protestant  congregation.  He  performed  the  same 
services  in  1530  for  the  Protestants  at  Lubeck.  He 
appears,  indeed,  to  have  been  celebrated  for  his  skill  in 
creating  churches,  for  he  was  employed  later  in  life  in  the 
same  way,  in  the  dukedom  of  Brunswick,  and  in  other 
places.  In  1537  he  was  sent  for  by  the  King  of  Denmark. 
So  early  as  1521  a  reforming  spirit  was  encouraged  in  that 
country  by  Christian  or  Christiern  II,  a  monarch  whose 
"  savage  and  infernal  cruelty,"  to  use  the  expression  of 
Mosheim,  "  rendered  his  name  odious  and  his  memory 
execrable."  He  was  anxious,  nevertheless,  to  free  his 
dominions  from  the  superstition  and  tyranny  of  Rome,  to 
have  the  Gospel  preached  according  to  Luther's  exposition, 
and  to  take  possession  for  the  good  of  the  state  of  the 
ecclesiastical  property.  He  invited  Carlostadt  to  Denmark, 
and  appointed  him  divinity  professor  at  Hafnia :  Carlostadt 
accepted  the  appointment,  but  after  a  short  stay  in  Den- 
mark returned  to  Germany.  Christiern  II  was  deposed 
in  1523,  and  Frederick,  Duke  of  Holstein  and  Sleswic, 
was  placed  upon  the  throne  of  Denmark.  This  prince  en- 
couraged the  Lutheran  preachers,  but  it  remained  for  his 
successor,  Christiern  III,  to  extirpate  Romanism  in  his 
dominions.  He  sent  for  Bugenhagius,  who  completely  re- 
modeled the  Church,  or  rather  converted  it  into  a  Pro- 
testant sect.  He  set  forth  a  book  about  the  ordination  of 
ministers,  formerly  agreed  upon  by  Luther  and  his  col- 


BULL.  229 

leagues,  to  which  he  added  some  prayers,  and  a  form  or 
directory  for  holy  ministrations.  About  fourteen  days 
after  the  coronation  of  the  King,  Bugenhagius  ordained 
seven  Protestant  superintendents  to  supply  the  place  of 
the  seven  Bishops  of  Denmark,  appointing  them  for  the 
time  to  come  to  act  as  Bishops,  and  to  superintend  the 
ecclesiastical  affairs.  These  persons,  arrogating  to  himself 
powers  which  he  did  not  possess,  he  ordained  in  the 
presence  of  the  King  and  his  council,  in  the  chief 
church  in  Hafnia.  The  assembly  of  the  states  at  Odensee, 
in  the  year  1539,  gave  a  solemn  sanction  to  all  these 
transactions. 

In  1533  he  had  proceeded  doctor,  at  the  instance  of 
John  Frederick,  Elector  of  Saxony,  who  was  present  when 
he  performed  his  exercises. 

The  peace  of  his  latter  years  was  disturbed  by  the  poli- 
tical troubles  of  Germany,  and  the  unfortunate  disputes 
amoDg  the  reformers,  which  he  laid  much  to  heart.  He 
died  on  the  20th  of  April,  1558.  He  wrote  a  commentary 
on  the  Psalms ;  Annotations  on  St.  Pauls  Epistles ;  a 
Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  &c.  He  also  assisted  Luther  in 
translating  the  Bible  into  German ;  and  used  to  keep  the 
day  on  which  it  was  finished  as  a  festival,  calling  it  the 
"Feast  of  the  Translation." — Melchior  Adam.  Clark's 
Marrow  of  Eccles.  Hist.    Mosheim.    D'Auhigmj.    Diqnn. 


BULL,  GEORGE. 

This  eminent  divine  of  the  Church  of  England, 
who  takes  his  place  with  Athanasius  and  Basil  and 
Gregory,  and  the  illustrious  Fathers  of  the  Church,  was 
descended  from  an  ancient  family  in  Somersetshire, 
and  was  born  at  Wells  in  that  county,  March  25th, 
1634.  His  father  dying  when  he  was  but  four  years  old, 
he  was  left  with  an  estate  of  £200  a  year,  to  the  care 
of  guardians,  by  whom  he  was  first  placed  at  a  grammar 
school   in  Wells,    and   afterwards    at  the  free  school  of 


230  BULL. 

Tiverton,  in  Devonshire :  a  school  which  still  retains 
its  high  character,  and  is  considered  one  of  the  chief 
schools  in  the  West  of  England.  The  writer  of  this  article 
bears  grateful  testimony  to  the  excellence  of  its  discipline, 
when  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  George  Richards, 
one  of  a  family  of  eminent  schoolmasters.  From  Tiverton 
George  Bull  removed  to  Exeter  College,  Oxford,  where  he 
entered  as  a  commoner  on  the  10th  of  July,  1648.  Here, 
says  his  biographer,  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of  Mr. 
Baldwin  Ackland,  a  man  eminent  for  his  learning  and 
piety,  zealous  for  his  Sovereign,  when  so  many  of  his 
subjects  and  friends  forsook  him,  and  true  to  the  interest 
of  tlie  Church  in  her  most  afflicted  circumstances.  But 
although  he  was  under  the  direction  of  so  zealous  and 
orthodox  a  divine,  it  must  not  be  concealed  that  Mr.  Bull 
lost  much  of  the  time  he  spent  at  the  university,  and  he 
frequently  mentioned  it  himself  with  great  sorrow  and 
regret ;  though  he  did  not,  as  is  too  usual,  impute  this 
misfortune  of  his  life  to  any  remissness  in  the  government 
of  the  place,  or  to  any  negligence  in  his  tutor,  but  to  the 
great  rawness  and  inexperience  of  his  age.  For  being 
transplanted  very  young  from  the  strict  discipline  of  a 
school  to  the  enjoyment  of  manly  liberty,  before  he  had 
consideration  enough  to  make  use  of  it  to  the  best  pur- 
poses ;  he  was  overpowered  by  that  love  of  pleasure  and 
diversion,  which  so  easily  captivates  youth  when  it  is  not 
upon  the  guard.  But  as  the  freedoms  he  took  were 
chiefly  childish  follies,  so  when  he  prosecuted  them  with 
the  greatest  earnestness,  he  still  gave  sufficient  evidence  of 
an  extraordinary  genius ;  and  by  the  help  of  his  logical 
rules  which  he  made  himself  master  of  with  little  labour, 
and  his  close  way  of  maintaining  his  argument,  which  was 
natural  to  him,  he  quickly  obtained  the  reputation  of  a 
smart  disputant,  and  as  such  was  taken  notice  of  by  his 
superiors. 

Mr.  Bull  had  not  been  admitted  two  years  at  Exeter 
College  before  the  Engagement  was  imposed  upon  the 
nation  by  a  pretended  Act  of  Parliament,  which  passed  in 


BULL.  281 

January  1649,  The  kingly  office  being  abolished  upon 
the  murder  of  King  Charles  the  martyr,  it  was  declared, 
that  for  the  time  to  come  England  should  be  governed  as 
a  Commonwealth  by  Parliament ;  that  is  to  say,  by  that 
handful  of  men  who,  by  their  art  and  power  and  villainy, 
had  by  successful  rebellion  effected  the  revolution.  And 
that  they  might  secure  their  new  government,  and  have 
some  obligations  of  obedience  for  the  future  from  their 
subjects,  who  had  broken  all  the  former  oaths  they  had 
taken,  as  is  observed  by  a  noble  author,  this  new  oath 
was  prepared  and  established :  the  form  of  which  was, 
that  every  man  should  swear,  "  That  he  would  be  true 
and  faithful  to  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  as  it  was 
then  established,  without  a  King  or  House  of  Lords." 
Whosoever  refused  to  take  that  Engagement,  was  to  be 
incapable  of  holding  any  place  or  office  in  Church  or 
State ;  and  they  who  had  no  employments  to  lose,  were  to 
be  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  the  law,  and  disabled  from 
suing  in  any  court.  There  was  great  zeal  shewn  in  seve- 
ral places  to  procure  this  acknowledgment  and  submission 
from  the  people  to  the  new  government ;  particularly  all 
the  members  of  the  university  were  summoned  to  appear, 
and  solemnly  to  own  the  right  and  title  of  the  Common- 
wealth to  their  allegiance.  Young  George  Bull  appeared 
•  upon  this  occasion,  and  signalized  himself  by  refusing  to 
take  the  oath.  The  several  hypotheses  which  were  started 
to  make  men  easy  under  a  change  of  government  directly 
contrary  to  the  constitution  of  the  country,  were  insuffi- 
cient to  convince  his  honest  and  straightforward  mind. 
Neither  the  argument  of  providence,  nor  that  of  present 
possession,  nor  that  of  the  advantages  of  protection,  which 
were,  as  Mr.  Nelson  observes,  all  pleaded  in  those  times, 
were  strong  enough  to  influence  the  mind  of  one  who  was 
determined  to  be  constant  in  his  duty  to  the  Church  and 
the  King. 

He  retired  in  January  1649,  with  his  tutor  Mr.  Ackland, 
to  North  Cadbury  in  Somersetshire.  In  this  retreat, 
which  lasted  till  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age,  he  had 


232  BULL. 

frequent  conversation  with  one  of  his  sisters,  whose  good 
sense  and  great  talents  were  directed  by  the  most  solid 
piety.  By  her  affectionate  recommendation  to  her  brother 
of  that  religion  which  her  own  conduct  so  much  adorned, 
she  won  from,  him  every  tincture  of  lightness  and  vanity, 
and  influenced  him  to  a  serious  prosecution  of  his  studies. 
He  now  put  himself,  by  the  advice  of  his  guardians,  under 
the  care,  and  boarded  in  the  house  of  Mr.  William  Thomas, 
rector  of  Ubley,  in  Somersetshire,  from  whom,  a  Puritan, 
he  received  little  or  no  real  improvement ;  but  the  ac- 
quaintance he  made  with  his  tutor's  son  Mr.  Samuel 
Thomas  made  some  amends  :  this  gentleman  persuaded 
Mr.  Bull  to  read  Hooker,  Hammond,  Taylor,  and  other 
Christian  writers  with  whose  works  he  supplied  him, 
though  at  the  hazard  of  his  father's  displeasure,  who 
never  found  any  orthodox  books  in  his  study  without 
manifesting  visible  marks  of  his  displeasure,  and  easily 
guessing  from  what  quarter  they  came,  he  would  often 
say,  "  My  son  will  corrupt  Mr.  Bull."  The  deep  piety  of 
his  pupil  made  him  entertain  the  wish  of  attaching  him 
to  the  Puritan  party,  to  which  the  learning  united  with 
the  piety  of  Mr.  Bull  offered  an  effectual  barrier. 

The  Church  of  England,  says  Mr.  Nelson,  which  is, 
and  that  justly,  the  glory  of  the  Pteformation,  was  then 
laid  in  the  dust :  she  was  ruined  under  a  pretence  of 
being  made  more  pure  and  more  perfect.  Episcopacy,  a 
divine  institution,  and  therefore  in  no  case  to  be  deviated 
from,  was  abolished  as  anti-Christian ;  our  admirable 
Liturgy  was  laid  aside  as  defiled  with  the  corruptions 
and  innovations  of  Popery :  and  the  revenues,  which  the 
piety  of  our  ancestors  had  established  for  the  maintenance 
of  our  spiritual  fathers,  were  ravenously  seized  on  by 
sacrilegious  hands,  and  alienated  to  support  the  usurpa- 
tion. These  discouraging  circumstances  did  not  damp 
the  zeal  of  this  servant  of  God,  but  he  engasjed  in  the 
service  of  the  Church  when  the  arguments  from  flesh  and 
blood  were  least  inviting.  When  men  propose  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  good  of  souls  as  the  chief  motive  in  the 


BULL.  233 

choice  of  their  sacred  profession,  as  they  want  not  the 
prospect  of  riches  and  grandeur  to  invite  them  to  under- 
take it,  neither  are  they  terrified  with  those  difficuUies 
that  lie  in  the  way  of  such  an  important  service.  The 
pilot  is  then  most  necessary,  w^hen  the  ship  is  exposed  to 
be  driven  on  rocks  and  sands ;  and  not  to  shrink  from  the 
exercise  of  his  skill  upon  such  occasions,  distinguisheth 
his  courage  and  resolution,  as  well  as  his  zeal,  to  save 
those  who  are  in  the  same  bottom  with  himself. 

Being  unable,  according  to  his  principles,  to  officiate 
without  being  duly  called  into  the  Lord's  vineyard,  he 
applied  for  ordination  to  Dr.  Skinner,  Bishop  of  Oxford, 
by  whom  he  was  ordained  deacon  and  priest  on  the 
same  day.  The  Bishop,  though  he  was  willing  to  ordain 
Mr.  Bui],  yet  refused  to  give  him,  or  any  others,  letters  of 
orders  under  his  own  hand  and  seal,  for  this  prudential 
reason  ;  because  he  was  apprehensive  some  ill  use  might 
be  made  of  them,  if  they  fell  into  the  hands  of  those 
unjust  powers  which  then  prevailed ;  who  had  made  it 
criminal  for  a  bishop  to  confer  holy  orders  :  but  withal  he 
assured  him,  that  when  the  ancient  apostolical  govern- 
ment of  the  Church  should  be  restored,  which  he  did  not 
question  but  a  little  time  would  bring  about,  his  letters 
of  orders  should  be  sent  him,  in  what  part  soever  of  the 
nation  he  then  lived,  however  it  should  please  God  to 
dispose  of  his  lordship ;  which  was  accordingly  punctually 
complied  with,  upon  the  happy  restoration  of  King  Charles 
the  Second. 

Being  now  invested  with  the  sacerdotal  powers,  which 
are  the  characteristic  of  a  presbyter,  he  embraced  the  first 
opportunity  the  providence  of  God  offered  for  the  exercis- 
ing of  them  according  to  his  commission.  A  small  living 
near  Bristol,  called  St.  George's,  presenting  itself,  he  the 
rather  accepted  it,  because  the  income  was  very  incon- 
siderable ;  it  being  very  likely,  that  upon  that  account  he 
would  be  suffered  to  reside  without  disturbance  from  the 
men  of  those  times,  who  would  not  think  it  worth  their 
pains  to  persecute  and  dispossess  him  for  £30  a  year. 

VOL.  III.  X 


234  BULL. 

When  lie  settled  at  St.  George's,  he  found  the  parish 
to  abound  with  quakers,  and  other  wald  sectaries,  who 
held  very  extravagant  opinions,  into  which  the  people 
there  and  in  the  adjacent  parts  were  very  ready  to  run; 
hut  by  his  constant  preaching  twice  every  Lord's-day,  by 
his  sound  doctrine  and  exemplary  life,  by  his  great  chari- 
ties, (for  he  expended  more  annually  in  relieving  the  poor 
of  all  sorts  than  the  whole  income  of  his  living  amounted 
to,)  and  by  his  prudent  behaviour,  he  gained  very  much 
upon  the  affections  of  his  parishioners,  and  was  very 
instrumental  in  preserving  many,  and  reclaiming  others, 
from  those  pernicious  errors  which  then  were  common 
among  them. 

A  little  occurrence  soon  after  his  coming  to  this  living, 
contributed  greatly  to  establish  his  reputation  as  a  preacher. 
One  Sunday,  when  he  had  begun  his  sermon,  as  he  was  turn- 
ing over  his  bible  to  explain  some  texts  of  Scripture,  which 
he  had  quoted,  his  notes,  which  were  written  on  several 
small  pieces  of  paper,  flew  out  of  his  bible  into  the  middle 
of  the  Church :  many  of  the  congregation  began  to  laugh, 
concluding  that  their  young  preacher  would  be  nonplussed 
for  want  of  materials ;  but  some  of  the  more  religious  and 
soberminded  of  the  congregation,  good  naturedly  gathered 
up  the  scattered  notes,  and  carried  them  to  him  in  the 
pulpit.  Mr.  Bull  took  them  ;  and  perceiving  that  most  of 
the  audience,  consisting  chiefly  of  sea-faring  persons,  were 
rather  inclined  to  triumph  over  him  under  that  surprise, 
he  replaced  them  in  his  book,  and  shut  it,  and  then,  with-, 
out  referring  any  more  to  them,  he  went  on  with  the 
subject  he  had  begun.  Another  time  while  he  was  preach- 
ing, a  quaker  came  into  the  church,  and  in  the  middle  of 
the  sermon,  cried  out,  "  George,  come  down,  thou  art  a  false 
prophet  and  an  hireling;"  whereupon  the  parishioners, 
who  loved  their  minister  exceedingly,  fell  upon  the 
poor  quaker  with  such  fury,  as  obliged  Mr.  Bull  to  come 
down  out  of  the  pulpit  to  quiet  them,  and  to  save  him 
from  the  effects  of  their  resentment :  getting  in  among 
them,  and  warding  off  the  blows  that  were  falling  very 


BULL.  -235 

heavy  upon  the  fellow,  he  said  to  them,  '•  Come,  neigh- 
bours, be  not  so  violent  against  the  poor  man,  but  spare 
him ;  you  do  not  know  what  spirit  he  is  acted  by ;  you 
cannot  tell  but  that  it  may  be  phrenzy  in  him,  or  some 
other  distemper;  and  if  so,  the  man  is  certainly  an  object 
of  your  care ;  however  let  me  prevail  upon  you  to  forbear 
and  hurt  him  not ;  but  let  me,  good  neighbours,  a  little 
argue  the  matter  coolly  with  him."  He  then  addressed 
the  man,  "  Friend,  thou  dost  call  me  a  false  prophet  and 
an  hireling.  Now  as  to  thy  first  charge,  prophecy  doth 
generally  mean  either  preaching  or  interpreting  God's 
word,  or  else  foretelling  things  to  come ;  and  so  a  prophet 
either  true  or  false,  is  understood  in  Scripture.  Where- 
fore if  thou  dost  mean  that  I  am  a  prophet  in  the  first  of 
these  two  senses,  I  readily  acknowledge  that  I  am  so,  and 
a  true  one  I  also  hope,  forasmuch  as  in  all  sincerity  and 
truth,  I  have  now  for  some  time  preached  among  this 
good  people  what  I  could  learn  to  be  agreeable  to  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  not  failing  to  interpret 
to  them  the  mind  of  God  in  the  Scriptures,  without  any 
other  end,  but  to  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  and  thereby  to  the  attainment  of  life  everlasting. 
But,  friend,  if  thou  dost  call  me  a  prophet,  and  a  false 
prophet,  from  my  foretelling  things  to  come,  I  then  appeal 
to  my  parishioners  here  present,  whether  I  ever  once 
pretended  to  this  manner  of  prophecy,  either  in  my  ser- 
mons or  in  my  discourses  with  them  :  and  so  in  this  sense 
I  can  be  no  false  prophet,  having  never  deceived  any  one 
by  pretences  of  this  nature.  And  as  to  the  other  charge 
against  me,  that  I  am  an  hireling,  I  appeal  again  to  these 
here  present  and  that  know  me,  whether  they  can  say  that 
I  have  preached  among  them  for  the  sake  of  gain  or 
filthy  lucre,  and  whether  1  have  not,  on  the  contrary,  been 
ready  on  all  occasions  to  serve  and  assist  them  to  the  ut- 
most of  my  power,  and  to  communicate  as  freely  as  I 
receive."  Upon  which  the  people,  being  touched  with  a 
sense  of  gratitude  to  this  minister  of  God  for  his  extra- 
ordinary kindness  and  constant  bounty  towards  them,  but 


236  BULL. 

not  mindful  enough  of  that  sacred  regard  which  was  due 
to  the  place  where  they  were  met,  and  to  the  occasion 
which  brought  them  together,  perceiving  the  silly  enthu- 
siast at  a  perfect  nonplus,  and  not  able  to  speak  a  word  of 
sense  in  his  own  defence,  fell  upon  him  a  second  time 
with  such  violence,  that  had  not  Mr.  Bull  bustled  very 
much  among  them,  and  by  great  entreaties  prevailed 
upon  them  to  spare  him,  and  to  lead  and  shut  him  out  of 
the  church ;  they  would  have  worried  him  upon  the  spot. 
After  which  Mr.  Bull  went  up  again  into  his  pulpit,  and 
finished  his  sermon.  What  a  picture  is  here  presented 
to  us  of  those  turbulent  times  !  His  labours  as  a  parish 
priest  were  as  judicious  as  they  were  great.  As  to  the 
younger  sort  of  people,  his  custom  was,  says  Nelson,  *'  to 
address  them  in  public  as  well  as  private,  and  therefore  he 
would  pitch  upon  some  week  day  to  preach  to  them  before 
he  administered  the  Holy  Eucharist ;  that  such  as  had 
not  yet  been  admitted  to  that  divine  Ordinance,  might  be 
thoroughly  instructed  in  the  nature  and  design  of  the 
Christian  Sacrifice,  and  might  be  taught  what  prepara- 
tion was  necessary  to  qualify  them  to  appear  at  the  Holy 
Altar." 

The  rebels  who  had  now  usurped  the  government  being 
dissenters,  they  tyrannically  prohibited  the  use  of  the 
Liturgy  under  the  threat  of  severe  penalties ;  nevertheless 
Mr.  Bull  framed  all  his  prayers  out  of  it,  after  the  exam- 
ple of  Bishop  Sanderson;  and  those  who  railed  at  the 
Liturgy  as  a  lifeless  form,  admired  Mr.  Bull  as  one  who 
prayed  by  the  Spirit  I  A  special  instance  of  this  delusion 
occurred  once  at  the  baptism  of  the  child  of  a  dissenter. 
Mr.  Bull  had  committed  the  whole  of  the  baptismal  ofiQce 
to  memory,  which  on  this  occasion  he  repeated  with  great 
gravity,  devotion,  and  fluency,  to  the  delight  and  admir- 
ation of  the  whole  company.  After  the  ordinance,  the 
father  of  the  child  returned  Mr.  Bull  many  thanks,  and 
praised  extempore  prayers  intimating,  at  the  same  time, 
with  how  much  greater  edification  they  prayed,  who 
entii;ely  depended  upon  the  Spirit  of  God  for  His  assist- 


BULL.  237 

ance  in  their  extempore  effusions,  than  those  did  who  tied 
themselves  up  to  pre-meditated  forms :  and  that  if  he  had 
not  made  the  sign  of  the  Cross,  that  hadge  of  Popery,  as 
he  called  it,  nobody  could  have  formed  the  least  objection 
against  his  excellent  prayers.  Upon  which  Mr.  Bull, 
hoping  to  recover  him  from  his  ill-grounded  prejudices, 
shewed  him  the  Office  of  Baptism  in  the  Liturgy,  whereni 
w^as  contained  eveiy  prayer  which  he  had  offered  up  to 
God  on  that  occasion ;  which,  with  farther  arguments  that 
he  then  urged,  so  effectually  wrought  upon  the  good  man 
and  his  w^hole  family,  that  they  always  after  that  time 
frequented  the  parish  church,  and  never  more  absented 
themselves  from  communion. 

On  the  ;^Oth  of  May,  1658,  Mr.  Bull  married  Bridget, 
the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Alexander  Gregory,  minister  of 
Cirencester.  Their 's  was  not  a  mere  civil  contract,  they 
were  joined  together  in  holy  matrimony  by  Mr.  William 
Master,  vicar  of  Preston,  according  to  the  form  prescribed 
in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer ;  the  use  of  which,  such 
was  the  tyranny  of  the  ruling  powers,  was  then  forbidden 
under  a  great  penalty.  But  as  Mr.  Bull  had  a  particular 
regard  to  our  excellent  Liturgy,  in  those  times  when  it 
was  the  fashion  to  despise  it :  so  he  had  not  a  less  esteem 
for  the  constitution  of  the  Church ;  for  in  order  to  render 
so  serious  an  action,  as  matrimony  is,  still  more  solemn, 
he  pitched  upon  Ascension-day  for  the  solemnizing  of  it, 
which,  in  1658,  w^as  the  20th  of  May. 

In  1659  he  was  presented  to  the  living  of  Suddington 
St.  Mary,  near  Cirencester.  The  Lady  Pool,  who  at  that 
time  lived  at  Cirencester,  claimed  the  right  of  presenta- 
tion, and  gave  the  living  to  Mr.  Bull,  but  he  would  have 
been  turned  out  of  it,  by  neglecting  to  take  out  the  broad 
seal,  liad  not  a  gentleman  of  Cirencester,  Mr.  Stone,  done 
this  without  Mr.  Bull's  knowledge  or  privity.  Mr.  Bull 
had  become  acquainted  with  his  wife  on  some  of  his 
periodical  journeys  to  Oxford,  for  he  made  a  point  of 
visiting  the  university  in  order  to  consult  the  libraries, 
X  2 


238  BULL. 

every  year,  and  he  remained  there  two  months,  thus  em- 
ploying his  lawful  holiday  as  a  parish  priest  It  is  indeed 
gratifying  to  the  parish  priests  of  England,  to  be  able  to 
state  that  the  most  learned  divine  of  the  English  Church 
was  one  of  their  number,  for  it  was  not  till  late  in  life 
that  Bull  was  preferred,  and  during  the  period  of  his 
learned  labours  he  was  an  indefatigable  parish  priest,  a 
working  clergyman  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  a  model  of 
piety  as  well  as  of  zeal.  Such  was  the  respect  in  which 
he  was  held,  that  in  1659  his  house  was  the  rendezvous 
of  the  gentlemen  in  that  part  of  the  country  who  were 
engaged  in  the  glorious  work  of  the  Restoration.  The 
parish  of  Suddington  St.  Mary  was  small,  and  the  Bishop 
of  Gloucester,  Dr.  Nicholson,  having  his  eye  upon  such  a 
distinguished  parish  priest,  obtained  for  him  the  adjacent 
vicarage  of  Suddington  St.  Peter,  which  was  in  the  Lord 
Chancellor  s  gift.  The  additional  income  was  only  £25 
a-year,  which  scarcely  covered  the  additional  expenses, 
especially  when  the  almost  boundless  hospitality  and 
charity  of  Bull  and  his  wife  are  taken  into  consideration, 
but  as  the  two  parishes  together  contained  only  thirty 
families,  he  was  glad  to  obtain  a  more  extensive  sphere  of 
usefulness,  and  laboured,  though  in  vain,  to  have  them 
consolidated.  He  continued  to  labour  among  the  poor 
and  ignorant;  his  exertions  among  them  were  inces- 
sant. Whenever  he  officiated  at  the  Altar,  it  was,  says 
Mr.  Nelson,  "  agreeably  to  the  directions  of  the  Rubric,  and 
with  the  gravity  and  seriousness  of  a  primitive  priest. 
He  preserved  the  custom  of  a  collection  for  the  poor,  when 
the  priest  begins  the  Offertory,  which  I  the  rather  men- 
tion, because  it  is  too  much  neglected  in  country  villages. 
He  always  placed  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine  upon 
the  altar  himself,  after  he  had  received  them  either  from 
the  churchwarden  or  clerk,  or  had  taken  them  from  some 
convenient  place,  where  they  w^ere  laid  for  that  purpose. 
His  constant  practice  was  to  offer  them  upon  the  holy 
table,  in  the  first  place,  in  conformity  to  the  practice  of 


BULL.  239 

the  ancient  Church,  before  he  began  the  Communion 
service ;  and  this  the  Rubric  after  the  OiBfertory,  seemeth 
to  require  of  all  her  priests,  by  declaring,  '  When  there  is 
a  Communion,  the  priest  shall  then  j^lace  upon  the  table  so 
much  bread  and  wine  as  he  shall  think  sufficient.'  "  "  It  is 
provided,"  continues  Mr.  Nelson,  "in  the  Rubric  after 
the  Nicene  Creed  on  Sundays,  '  The  Curate  shall  declare 
unto  the  people,  what  holy  days  or  fasting  days  are  in  the 
week  following  to  he  observed  ;'  and  this  direction  is  enforced 
by  the  64th  Canon  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Constitutions, 
made  by  the  Convocation  in  1603.  Now  Mr.  Bull  did 
not  satisfy  himself  only  with  giving  this  notice  to  his 
parishioners,  which  he  could  not  well  omit  without  neg- 
lecting his  duty,  but  he  led  them  to  the  observation  of 
such  holy  institutions  by  his  own  example.  For  he  had 
so  far  a  regard  to  these  holy-days,  as  to  cause  all  his 
family  to  repair  to  the  church  at  such  times  ;  and  on  the 
days  of  fasting  and  abstinence,  the  necessary  refreshments 
of  life  were  adjourned  from  the  usual  hour  till  towards 
the  evening.  He  was  too  well  acquainted  with  the  prac- 
tice of  the  primitive  Christians,  to  neglect  such  observ- 
ances as  they  made  instrumental  to  piety  and  devotion, 
had  too  great  a  value  for  the  injunctions  of  his  mother,  the 
Church  of  England,  to  disobey  where  she  required  a  com- 
pliance ;  but  above  all,  he  was  too  intent  upon  making 
advances  in  the  Christian  life,  to  omit  a  duty  all  along 
observed  by  devout  men,  and  acceptable  to  God  under  the 
Old  and  New  Testament,  both  as  it  was  helpful  to  their 
devotion,  and  became  a  part  of  it." 

While  Mr.  Bull  was  rector  of  Suddington,  the  provi- 
dence of  God  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  fixing  two  ladies 
of  quality,  in  that  neighbourhood,  in  the  Protestant  com- 
munion ;  who  had  been  reduced  to  a  very  wavering  state 
of  mind,  by  the  arts  and  subtleties  of  some  Romish  mis- 
sionaries. Their  specious  pretences  to  antiquity  were  easily 
detected  by  this  great  master  of  the  ancient  Fathers  ;  and 
by  his  thorough  acquaintance  with  Scripture,  and  the 
sense  of  the  Catholic  Church,  in  matters  of  the  greatest 


240  BULL. 

importance,  he  was  able  to  distinguish  between  primitive 
truths,  and  those  errors  which  the  Church  of  Rome  built 
upon  them.  He  had  frequent  conferences  with  both  these 
ladies,  and  answered  those  objections  which  appeared  to 
them  to  have  the  greatest  strength,  and  by  which  they 
were  very  near  falling  from  their  stedfastness. 

Mr.  Nelson  regrets  the  loss  of  the  paper  he  drew  up  for 
their  instruction,  but  it  was  afterwards  discovered  and 
published  by  the  Bishop's  son,  Robert  Bull,  under  the 
title  of  "A  Vindication  of  the  Church  of  England." 
What  a  divine  so  learned  in  primitive  doctriue  has  said 
in  defence  of  our  Church,  is  so  valuable  in  these  days, 
that  we  are  impelled  to  give  the  following  extract  from  the 
work,  which  is  a  challenge  to  the  Romish  controversialist. 

"  We  proceed,  in  the  next  place,  to  the  constant  visi- 
bility and  succession  of  pastors  in  our  Church,  which  he 
challenge th  your  ladyship,  as  obliged  by  promise,  to  make 
good.  And  here  I  make  him  this  fair  proposal :  Let  him, 
or  any  one  of  his  party,  produce  any  one  solid  argument 
to  demonstrate  such  a  succession  of  pastors  in  the  Churc 
of  Rome,  and  I  will  undertake,  by  the  very  same  argu- 
ment, to  prove  a  like  succession  in  our  Church.  Indeed, 
your  ladyship  will  easily  discern,  that  the  author  of  the 
letter  is  concerned,  no  less  than  we  are,  to  acknowledge 
such  a  succession  of  lawful  pastors  in  our  Church,  till  the 
time  of  the  Reformation;  and  if  we  cannot  derive  our 
succession  since,  it  is  a  hard  case.  But  our  records,  faith- 
fully kept  and  preserved,  do  evidence  to  all  the  world  an 
uninterrupted  succession  of  Bishops  in  our  Church, 
canonically  ordained,  derived  from  such  persons  in  whom 
a  lawful  power  of  ordination  was  seated  by  the  confession 
of  the  Papists  themselves.  For  the  story  of  the  Nag's 
Head  Ordination  is  so  putid  a  fable,  so  often  and  so 
clearly  refuted  by  the  writers  of  our  Church,  that  the  more 
learned  and  ingenuous  Papists  are  now  ashamed  to  make 
use  of  it. 

"-His  demand  that  we  should  shew  a  succession  of 
pastors  in  our  Church,  in  all  ages,  holding  and  professing 


BULL.  241 

the  thirtj-Dine  Articles,  is  infinitely  ridiculous,  absurd, 
and  unreasonable :  for  we  ourselves  acknowledge,  that  the 
pastors  of  our  Church  were,  before  the  Reformation,  in- 
volved as  well  as  others,  in  the  errors  and  corruptions  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  against  which  our  thirty-nine 
Articles  are  mainly  directed;  or  else  there  had  been  no 
need  of  Reformation.  And  let  him,  if  he  can,  shew  a  con- 
stant succession  of  pastors  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  always 
professing  the  decrees  of  the  council  of  Trent,  in  the 
points  of  image-worship,  invocation  of  saints,  communion 
in  one  kind,  purgatory,  indulgences,  &c.,  and  I  will  pro- 
mise heart  and  hand  to  subscribe  to  that  council.  But  it  is 
as  clear  as  the  light  at  noonday,  that  the  decrees  of  that 
council  in  those  articles,  are  most  contrary  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  Catholic  Church  (and  so  of  the  pastors  of  the 
Church  of  Rome)  in  the  first  and  best  ages.  As  for  our- 
selves, that  which  we  maintain  is  this,  that  our  Church 
and  the  pastors  thereof,  did  always  acknowledge  the  same 
rule  of  faith,  the  same  fundamental  articles  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  both  before  and  since  the  Reformation  ;  but 
with  this  difference,  that  we  then  professed  the  rule  of 
faith  together  with  the  additional  coriTiptions  of  the 
Church  of  Rome;  but  now  (God  be  thanked)  without 
them.  So  that  the  change,  as  to  matter  of  doctrine  which 
hath  been  in  our  church,  and  her  pastors,  is  for  the  bet- 
ter; like  that  of  a  man  from  being  leprous  becoming 
sound  and  healthy,  and  yet  always  the  same  man.  This  a 
learned  prelate  of  our  church  solemnly  proclaimed  to  all 
the  world  in  these  words  :  '  Be  it  known  to  all  the  world, 
that  our  church  is  only  reformed  or  repaired,  not  made 
new ;  there  is  not  one  stone  of  a  new  foundation  laid  by 
us  ;  yea,  the  old  walls  stand  still,  only  the  overcasting  of 
those  ancient  stones  with  the  untempered  mortar  of  new 
inventions  displeaseth  us  :  plainly,  set  aside  the  cori-up- 
tions,  and  the  church  is  the  same.  And  what  are  these 
corruptions,  but  unsound  adjections  to  the  ancient  struc- 
ture of  religion  ?  These  we  cannot  but  oppose,  and  there- 
fore are  unjustly  and  imperiously  asserted.     Hence  it  is 


242  BULL. 

that  ours  is  by  the  opposite  styled  an  ablative  or  nega- 
tive religion;  for  so  much  as  we  join  vith  all  true 
Christians  in  all  affirmative  positions  of  ancient  faith, 
only  standing  upon  the  denial  of  some  late  and  undue 
additaments  to  the  Christian  belief.'  Let  the  author  of 
the  letter  prove,  that  our  church,  since  the  Reformation, 
bath  departed  from  any  one  article  of  the  common  faith, 
always  received  in  the  church  of  God,  and  more  fully  ex- 
plained in  the  creeds  of  the  first  general  councils,  and  he 
will  perform  something  to  the  purpose ;  but  till  then  all 
his  discourses  of  our  change  in  point  of  doctrine  will  be 
impertinent.  And  that  he  will  never  be  able  to  prove 
this,  will  appear  afterwards. 

'^  Indeed,  the  question  is  here  the  same  with  that 
threadbare  one  which  the  Papists  use  to  reiterate,  when 
they  have  nothing  else  to  say  for  themselves.  Where  was 
your  Church  before  Luther?  To  which  the  answer  is 
easy :  Our  Church  was  then  where  it  is  now,  even  here  in 
England.  She  hath  not  changed  one  thing  of  what  she 
held  before,  any  way  partaining  either  to  the  being  or 
well-being  of  a  Church  ;  only  she  hath  made  an  alteration 
in  some  things,  which  seemed  to  her  (and  so  they  will  to 
all  indifferent  judges)  greatly  prejudicial  to  both.  She 
still  retains  the  same  common  rule  of  faith.  She 
still  teacheth  the  necessity  of  a  holy  life,  and  presseth 
good  works  as  much  as  before ;  only  she  is  grown  more 
humble,  and  dares  not  ascribe  any  merit  to  them.  She 
still  observes  all  the  fundamental  ordinances  and  institu- 
tions of  Christianity.  She  baptizeth,  she  feeds  with  the 
holy  Eucharist,  she  confirmeth.  She  retaineth  the  same 
apostolical  government  of  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons. 
And  because  she  finds  that  a  set  form  of  Liturgy  is  used 
by  all  Christian  Churches  in  the  world,  without  any 
known  beginning,  she  hath  hers  too,  and  that  a  grave, 
solemn,  aud  excellently  composed  one,  conformed,  as  near 
as  she  could  devise,  to  the  pattern  of  the  most  ancient 
offices.  A  Liturgy,  for  its  innocence  and  purity,  so  be- 
yond  all  just  exceptions,    that  the  Papists  themselves, 


BULL.  243 

upon  its  first  establishment,  could  not  but  embrace  it. 
xlnd  therefore  for  several  years  they  came  to  our  Churches, 
joined  in  our  devotion,  and  communicated  without 
scruple,  till  at  last  (as  an  excellent  person  of  our  Church 
rightly  expresseth  it)  '  a  temporal  interest  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  rent  the  schism  wider,  and  made  it  gape  like  the 
jaws  of  the  grave:'  nay,  it  is  transmitted  to  us  (as  the 
same  excellent  author  observes)  by  the  testimony  of  per- 
sons greater  than  all  exception,  that  Paulus  Quartus, 
Pope  of  Piome,  in  his  private  intercourses  and  letters  to 
Queen  Elizabeth,  did  offer  to  confirm  and  establish  the 
Common  Prayer  Book,  if  she  would  acknowledge  the  pri- 
macy and  authority,  and  the  reformation  derivative  from 
him.  And  this  method  was  pursued  by  his  successor 
Pius  Quartus,  who  assured  her  she  should  have  any  thing 
from  him,  not  only  things  pertaining  to  her  soul,  but  what 
might  conduce  to  the  establishment  and  confirmation  of 
her  royal  dignity ;  amongst  which,  that  the  Liturgy,  newly 
established  by  her  authority,  should  not  be  rescinded  by 
the  Pope's  power,  was  not  the  least  considerable.  I  be- 
seech your  ladyship  to  make  a  little  pause  here.  Our 
Liturgy  contains  the  whole  religion  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. This  the  popes  and  bishops  of  Rome  themselves 
offer  to  confirm  and  establish.  Let  me  now  ask  this 
question.  Is  our  Liturgy  in  itself  a  good  and  safe  way  of 
worshipping  God,  or  not?  If  not,  these  popes  were  to 
blame  in  offering  to  confirm  it ;  for  no  subsequent  decree 
of  a  pope  could  make  that  safe  and  good,  which  was  not 
so  antecedently.  If  it  were  in  itself  good  and  safe,  then  it 
is  so  still,  though  the  Pope  of  Rome  never  confirmed  it ; 
and  so  the  whole  religion  and  reformation  of  the  Church 
of  England  is  safe  and  good,  by  the  plain  confession  of 
the  Pope  himself,  the  infallible  judge  of  the  Roman 
church.  But  let  us  proceed.  As  to  the  catholic  customs, 
our  Church  (so  far  is  she  from  the  love  of  innovation)  pro- 
fesseth  all  reverence  and  respect  unto  them.  Upon  this 
score,  she  still  observes  all  the  great  and  sfncient  festivals 
of  the  Church  with  great  solemnity,  viz.  the  feasts  of  the 


244  BULL. 

nativity,  circumcision,  passion,  resurrection,  and  ascen- 
sion of  our  Saviour,  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  the 
feast  of  pentecost,  &c. ;  she  still  honours  the  memory  of 
the  holy  Apostles,  saints,  and  martyrs,  and  hath  days 
wherein  to  express  this,  and  to  bless  God  for  them,  and 
propound  their  virtues  to  the  imitation  of  her  sons.  The 
ancient  fasts  of  the  Church  she  hath  not  rejected ;  and 
therefore,  because  she  finds  a  Lent,  or  solemn  fast,  before 
the  great  festival  of  Easter,  presently  after  the  Apostles, 
universally  observed  (though  with  a  considerable  variety, 
as  to  the  number  of  days,  and  the  hours  of  abstinence  on 
those  days)  in  the  Church  of  God,  she  recommends  the 
same  observation  to  her  sons,  in  the  full  number  of  forty 
days,  to  be  kept  as  days  of  stricter  temperance,  and  prayer 
too,  by  all  those  whose  health  and  other  circumstances 
will  permit  them  to  undertake  it.  She  still  observes  the 
fasts  of  the  four  seasons,  or  ember-weeks.  She  still  recom- 
mends the  two  weekly  stations  of  the  primitive  Church  to 
the  observation  of  her  sons,  Wednesday  and  Friday,  dis- 
tinguishing them  from  other  days  of  the  week  by  the  more 
solemn  and  penitential  office  of  the  Litany.  And  in  the 
table  of  the  fasts  to  be  observed,  all  Fridays  in  the  year, 
except  Christmas-day,  are  expressly  mentioned.  I  might 
proceed  to  other  instances ;  but  these  are  abundantly 
sufficient  to  shew,  that  the  Church  of  England  in  her 
reformation  effected  no  unnecessary  change  or  innovation. 
Indeed,  she  made  no  change  or  innovation,  but  of  those 
things  that  were  themselves  manifest  changes  and  inno- 
vations, yea,  somewhat  worse ;  such  as  those  above  men- 
tioned, image- worship,  the  worship  and  invocation  of 
saints  and  angels,  the  dry  communion,  the  senseless  and 
unreasonable  service  of  God  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
enjoined  the  people,  and  not  understood  by  them. 
Wherein,  as  I  have  already  shewn,  every  man's  reason 
and  conscience  will  tell  him,  that  the  change  is  made  for 
the  better.  She  hath  also  shaken  off"  (and  it  was  high 
time  so  to  do,  seeing  that  St.  Augustine  so  long  ago  com- 
plained of  it)  that  intolerable  yoke  of  ceremonies,  ma  ny  of 


BULL.  '245 

wliich  were  perfectly  insignificant  and  ridiculous,  some 
directly  sinful,  and  their  number  in  the  whole  so  great,  as 
to  require  that  intention  of  mind,  which  ought  to  be  em- 
ployed about  more  weighty  and  important  matters,  yet 
retaining  still  (to  shew  that  she  was  not  over  nice  and 
scrupulous)  some  few  ceremonies,  that  had  on  them  the 
stamp  of  venerable  antiquity,  or  otherwise  recommended 
themselves  by  their  decency  and  fitness.  In  a  word,  the 
authors  of  our  Reformation  dealt  with  our  Church  as  they 
did  with  our  temples  or  material  churches.  They  did  not 
pull  them  down  and  raise  new  structures  in  their  places, 
no,  nor  so  much  as  new  consecrate  the  old  ones  ;  but  only 
removed  the  objects  and  occasions  of  idolatrous  worship, 
at  least  out  of  the  more  open  and  conspicuous  places,) 
and  took  away  some  little  superstitious  trinkets,  in  other 
things  leaving  them  as  they  found  them,  and  freely  and 
without  scruple  making  use  of  them." 

The  only  dissenters  he  had  in  this  parish  were  quakers, 
who  resisted  all  the  endeavours  he  made  to  bring  them 
into  the  church,  for  they  were  as  obstinate  as  they  were 
ignorant :  who,  by  their  impertinent  and  extravagant 
manner,  caused  him  often  no  small  uneasiness.  And 
of  this  number  was  one  who  was  a  preacher  among 
them,  who  would  frequently  accost  Mr.  Bull ;  and  once 
more  particularly  said  he,  "  George,  as  for  human 
learning  I  set  no  value  upon  it  ;  but  if  thou  wilt 
talk  Scripture,  have  at  thee."  Upon  which  Mr.  Bull, 
willing  to  correct  his  confidence,  and  to  shew  him  how 
unable  he  was  to  support  his  pretensions,  answered  him, 
"  Come  on  then,  friend."  So  opening  the  Bible,  which 
lay  before  them,  he  fell  upon  the  Book  of  Proverbs; 
*'  Seest  thou,  friend,"  said  he,  "  Solomon  saith  in  one 
place,  'Answer  a  fool  according  to  his  folly;'  and  in 
another  place,  '  Answer  not  a  fool  according  to  his  folly  ;' 
how  dost  thou  reconcile  these  two  texts  of  Scripture  ?" 
"  Why,"  said  the  preacher,  "  Solomon  don't  say  so ;"  to 
which  Mr.  Bull  replied,  "Aye,  but  he  doth."     And  tum- 

VOL.  III.  Y 


216  BULL. 

iDg  to  the  places  he  soon  convinced  him ;  upon  which  the 
quaker  hereat  being  much  out  of  countenance,  said,  "Why 
then  Solomons  a  fool :"  which  ended  the  controversy. 

He  wrote  several  tracts,  which  have  been  lost,  as  he 
never  entertained,  such  was  his  modesty,  a  high  value  of 
his  own  compositions.  But  in  1669  he  published  his  first 
great  work,  the  Harmonia  Apostolica.  This  involved  him 
in  controversy,  (See  Life  of  Barlow  and  of  Tully,)  as,  to 
his  surprise,  he  found  that  principles  he  had  considered 
peculiar  to  the  sectaries  had  now  found  their  way  into  the 
Church.  In  1675  he  published  his  Examen  Censurse,  and 
his  Apologia  pro  Harmonia,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Gataker  and 
Dr.  Tully.  The  object  of  the  Harmonia  was,  in  refutation 
of  the  pestilent  heresies  of  the  day,  too  prevalent  among  the 
Puritans,  to  prove  that  good  works,  which  proceed  from 
faith,  and  are  conjoined  with  faith,  are  a  necessary  condi- 
tion required  of  us  by  God,  to  the  end  that  by  the  new 
and  evangelical  covenant,  obtained  by  and  sealed  in  the 
Blood  of  Christ  the  Mediator  of  it,  we  may  be  justified 
according  to  His  free  and  unmerited  grace. 

In  1678  he  was  preferred  to  a  stall  in  Gloucester  cathe- 
dral, which,  when  he  had  a  stall  there,  we  may  feel  con- 
fident, was  in  far  better  order  than  the  Christian  visiting 
Gloucester  now,  finds  it  to  be.  In  1680  he  finished  his 
Defensio  Fidei  Nicenae,  of  which  he  had  given  a  hint  five 
years  before  in  his  Apologia.  The  greater  part  of  the  work 
was  completed  when  he  was  only  a  parish  priest,  and 
can  Dot  be  connected  with  any  leisure  that  was  offered  him 
by  his  prebendal  residence,  though  when  in  residence, 
being  as  conscientious,  as  a  prebendary,  as  he  had  been  as 
a  rector,  he  turned  his  leisure  to  good  account,  while  his 
soul  was  refreshed  by  the  daily  services  of  the  Church.  He 
was  not  one  of  those  who  thought  prayer  a  waste  of  time. 
It  will  hardly  be  credited,  that  the  work  which,  as  a  contri- 
bution of  theological  learning,  stands  pre-eminent  in  our 
Church,  a  work  for  which  the  Gallican  clergy,  opposed  as 
they^  were  to  Anglicanism  in  many  respects,  presented  the 


BULL.  247 

author  with  their  thanks,  that  this  great  work  was  nearly 
lost  to  the  world,  because  no  bookseller  would  undertake  its 
publication,  and  Bull  himself  could  not  risk  the  expense. 
He  gave  his  manuscript,  after  it  had  lain  by  him  for  a 
time,  to  Dr.  Jane,  Regius  Professor  of  divinity  in  Oxford, 
and  the  regius  professor  being  an  orthodox  man,  recom- 
mended it  to  Bishop  Fell.  This  great  and  good  prelate, 
being  not  a  little  glad  to  hear  that  the  holy  Catholic  faith, 
in  the  most  fundamental  point  of  it,  was  so  learnedly 
defended  against  some  modern  pretenders  to  antiquity,  was 
presently  for  eucouraging  the  printing  of  it,  for  a  general 
benefit ;  nor  had  he  need  of  solicitation,  to  print  a  book 
of  this  nature  at  his  own  expense,  which  so  highly  tended, 
as  he  was  fully  persuaded,  to  vindicate  the  honour  of  our 
blessed  Lord,  and  the  veracity  of  His  faithful  witnesses  in 
the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity. 

Thus,  in  the  year  1685,  there  was  published  from  the 
Theatre  in  Oxford,  the  Bishop  thereof  taking  upon  him  the 
charge  of  the  impression,  this  most  noble  Defence  of  the 
Nicene  Faith,  out  of  the  writings  of  the  Catholic  doctors,  who 
flourished  within  the  three  first  centuries  of  the  Christian 
Church :  wherein  also  the  Constantinopolitan  Confession, 
concerning  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  incidently  confirmed  by  the 
testimonies  likewise  of  the  ancients.  For  whereas  in  the 
ancient  creeds  and  formularies  of  faith,  the  Deity  of  the 
Son  is  principally  and  more  largely  declared,  but  that  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  for  the  most  part  only  hinted  at,  and  in 
a  few  words,  the  learned  author  made  it  his  chief  care  in 
this  treatise,  to  defend  tliat  rather  that  this ;  as  consider- 
ing, that  if  he  could  beget  and  confirm  in  his  readers,  the 
tnie  faith  concerning  the  Son  of  God,  they  might  with 
ease  then  be  brought  to  receive  and  continue  in  a  right 
confession,  concerning  the  Siy'irit  of  God. 

This  work  was  received,  as  it  deserved,  with  universal 
applause,  and  its  fame  spread  into  foreign  countries.  In 
1685  Mr.  Bull  was  presented  to  the  living  of  Avening, 
having  remained  at  Suddington  for  twenty-seven  years. 
The  year  following  Archbishop  Sancroft  promoted  him  to 


S48  BULL. 

the  archdeaconry  of  Landaff,  which  was  his  option,  and 
soon  after  the  university  of  Oxford  did  itself  the  honour 
to  confer  upon  him  the  degi'ee  of  D.D.  At  Avening  he 
laboured  with  his  usual  diligence ;  and  when,  during 
the  reign  of  James  II.,  apprehensions  af  the  increase 
of  Popery  were  far  from  groundless  ;  then  it  was  that 
Dr.  Bull  thought  it  his  duty,  chiefly  to  lay  open  the  errors 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  he  then  took  all  opportunities, 
both  in  his  own  parish,  and  in  other  public  places  where 
he  was  called  to  preach,  as  at  Bath  and  Gloucester,  and  in 
a  visitation  sermon  at  Hampton,  to  convince  the  people 
how  much  they  would  hazard  their  salvation,  if  ever  they 
suffered  themselves,  by  sly  arts  and  insinuations,  to  be 
drawn  into  the  Roman  Communion ;  wherein  they  had 
made  many  additions  to  the  primitive  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  had  required  their  novelties  to  be  received  as 
necessary  articles  of  faith,  though  the  Holy  Scriptures 
and  primitive  antiquity  were  silent  concerning  them,  and 
in  some  points  expressly  against  them.  These  errors  in 
doctrine  they  aggi'avated  by  considerable  cormptions  in  her 
public  offices  ;  which  were  not  only  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
and  consequently  no  ways  edifying  to  the  people,  but  in 
some  parts  were  addressed  to  saints  and  angels,  contrary 
to  Scripture,  and  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Church. 
It  must  be  owned,  that  Dr.  Bull  was  indeed  a  very  frank 
asserter  of  some  primitive  truths,  upon  which  are  built 
several  errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  and  the  sermons, 
which  are  printed,  will  furnish  the  reader  with  several 
instances  of  this  remark.  Now  among  those  who  cannot, 
or  will  not  distinguish  the  foundation  from  the  hay  and 
stubble  that  is  built  upon  it,  we  must  not  wonder,  if  he 
was  thought  too  much  inclining  to  the  Church  of  Rome  ; 
w^hich  unjust  censure  was  confirmed  by  his  exact  confor- 
mity to  the  rules  of  the  Church  of  England,  in  a  place 
where  the  people  were  under  great  prejudices,  both  against 
her  discipline  and  Liturgy.  But  this  calumny  hath  been 
thrown  upon  the  greatest  lights  of  the  Church,  whereas, 
as  Mr.  Nelson  observes,  "  in  the  dav  of  trial  the  men  of 


BULL.  249 

this  character  will  be  found  the  best  defenders  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  the  boldest  champions  against 
the  corruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome." 

In  1694  appeared  his  next  great  work,  the  Judicium 
Ecclesiae  Catholicas,  &c.,  the  judgment  of  the  Catholic 
Church  of  the  first  three  centuries  concerning  the  neces- 
sity of  believing  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  very  God, 
asserted  against  Simon  Episcopius  and  others. 

Mr.  Nelson,  soon  after  the  publication  of  this  work,  sent 
it  as  a  present  to  Bossuet,  Bishop  of  Meaux.  That  pre- 
late communicated  it  to  several  other  French  Bishops,  the 
result  of  which,  was,  that  Mr.  Nelson  was  desired,  in  a  letter 
from  the  Bishop  of  Meaux,  not  only  to  return  Dr.  Bull  his 
humble  thanks,  but  the  unfeigned  congratulations  also  of 
the  whole  clergy  of  France,  then  assembled  at  St.  Ger- 
mains,  for  the  great  service  he  had  done  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  in  so  well  defending  her  determination,  concerning 
the  necessity  of  believing  the  divinity  of  the  Son  of  God. 
In  that  letter  the  Bishop  of  Meaux  expresses  himself  in 
the  following  terms  :  "  Dr.  Bull's  performance  is  admirable, 
the  matter  he  treats  of  could  not  be  explained  with  greater 
learning  and  judgment,  but  there  is  one  thing  I  wonder 
at,  which  is,  that  so  great  a  man,  who  speaks  so  advantage- 
ously of  the  Church,  of  salvation  which  is  obtained  only 
in  unity  with  her,  and  of  the  infallible  assistance  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  the  Council  of  Nice,  which  infers  the  same 
assistance  for  all  others  assembled  in  the  same  Church, 
can  continue  a  moment  without  acknowledging  her.  Or, 
let  him  tell  me,  sir,  what  he  means  by  the  term  Catholic 
Church  ?  Is  it  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  those  that  adhere 
to  her  ?  Is  it  the  Church  of  England  ?  Is  it  a  confused 
heap  of  societies,  separated  the  one  fi'om  the  other  ?  And 
how  can  they  be  that  kingdom  of  Christ,  not  divided 
against  itself,  and  which  shall  never  perish  ?  It  would  be 
a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  receive  some  answer  upon  this 
subject,  that  might  explain  the  opinion  of  so  weighty  and 
solid  an  author?'  Dr.  Bull  answered  the  queries  proposed 
Y  '2 


250  BULL. 

in  this  letter  ;  but  just  as  his  answer  came  to  Mr.  Nelson's 
hands,  the  Bishop  died.  However,  Dr.  Bull's  answer 
was  published,  and  a  second  edition  printed  at  London, 
1707,  in  12mo,  under  the  following  title:  "The  corruptions 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  relation  to  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment, the  rule  of  faith,  and  form  of  divine  worship  :  in 
ansvr'er  to  the  Bishop  of  Meaux's  queries."  (See  Life  of 
Bossuet.)  His  last  work  was  Primitiva  apostolica  traditio 
dogmatis  in  ecclesia  catholica  recepti  de  Jesu  Christi, 
Servatoris  nostri,  divinitate,  asserta  atque  evidenter  demon- 
strata  contra  Danielum  Zuikerum  Borussum  ejusque 
nuperos  in  Anglia  sectatores.  Which,  with  his  other 
Latin  works,  was  printed  in  one  volume  in  folio  ;  under 
the  care  and  inspection  of  Dr.  John  Ernest  Grabe,  the 
author's  age  and  infirmities  disabling  him  from  under- 
taking this  edition.  The  ingenious  editor  added  many 
learned  annotations,  and  an  excellent  preface. 

Dr.  Bull  was  in  his  71st  year  when  his  majesty's  inten- 
tion of  recommending  him  to  the  chapter  of  St.  David's, 
that  he  might  be  elected  Bishop  of  that  see,  was  announced 
to  him.  He  received  the  intelligence  with  concern  as 
well  as  surprise.  He  declined  the  appointment.  And 
although  at  length  he  yielded,  it  was  not  till  he  had  been 
importuned  by  several  of  the  Bishops  themselves  to  under- 
take what,  to  his  conscientious  mind,  was  an  overpowering 
burden.  He  looked  upon  their  solicitation  as  the  call  of 
a  spiritual  Providence,  and  felt  that  he  might  humbly 
hope,  that  God,  who  had  called  him  from  the  care  of  a 
parish  to  the  government  of  a  diocese,  would  enable  him, 
by  His  Holy  Spirit,  to  discharge  the  several  duties  which 
belonged  to  it ;  and  that  He  who  laid  the  burden  upon 
him,  would  strengthen  him  under  it ;  and  it  is  certain, 
that  God  proportioneth  His  gifts  to  the  wants  of  those 
who  depend  upon  Him  :  and  the  distributions  of  grace  are 
larger,  as  His  wise  providence  maketh  them  necessary. 

However  difficult,  says  Nelson,  the  employment  might 
prove  to   Dr.   Bull,  in  the  decline   of  his   strength  and 


BULL.  -251 

vigour,  it  certainly  concerned  the  honour  of  the  nation, 
not  to  suffer  a  person  to  die  in  an  obscure  retirement,  who 
upon  the  account  of  his  learned  performances,  had  shined 
with  so  much  lustre  in  a  neighbouring  nation,  where  he 
had  received  the  united  thanks  of  her  Bishops,  for  the 
great  service  he  had  done  to  the  cause  of  Christianity. 
Accordingly  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  in 
Lambeth  chapel,  the  29th  of  April,  1705. 

Bishop  Bull  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords  in  a 
most  critical  conjuncture,  even  that  memorable  session 
when  the  bill  for  uniting  the  kingdoms  of  England  and 
Scotland  passed  for  a  law  :  a  noble  lord  on  the  occasion 
moved  that  as  the  parliament  of  Scotland  had  extolled 
their  presbyterian  establishment,  a  clause  should  be  moved 
in  which  the  Church  of  England  might  be  spoken  of  in 
the  proper  terms,  for,  said  he,  turning  to  the  bench  of 
Bishops,  "  I  have  always  been  taught  by  my  lords  the 
Bishops,  from  my  youth,  that  the  Church  of  England  is 
the  best  constituted  Church  in  the  world  and  most  agree- 
able to  the  Apostolical  institution."  Upon  which.  Bishop 
Bull,  who  sate  very  near  his  lordship,  apprehending  how 
upon  such  an  appeal  to  the  Bishops,  it  was  necessary  for 
them  to  say  something,  stood  up  and  said  :  "My  lords,  I 
do  second  what  that  noble  lord  hath  moved,  and  do  think 
it  highly  reasonable,  that  in  this  bill  a  character  should 
be  given  of  our  most  excellent  Church.  For,  my  lords, 
whosoever  is  skilled  in  primitive  antiquity,  must  allow  it 
for  a  certain  and  evident  truth,  that  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land is,  in  her  doctrine,  discipline,  and  worship,  most 
agreeable  to  the  primitive  and  Apostolical  institution." 

The  Bishop  of  St.  David's  coming  out  of  the  house, 
Bishop  Beveridge  and  another  Bishop  thanked  his  lord- 
ship for  his  excellent  speech  ;  and  said  Bishop  Beveridge, 
"  My  lord,  if  you  and  I  had  the  penning  of  the  bill,  it 
should  be  in  the  manner  your  lordship  hath  moved." 
Upon  which,  Bishop  Bull  made  such  a  reply,  as  repre- 
sented the  necessity  he  lay  under  of  thus  discharging  his 


25S  BULL. 

duty,  when  so  solemnly  called  upon  in  the  greatest  court 
of  the  nation. 

He  immediately  repaired  to  his  diocese,  there  to  devote 
to  the  service  of  his  Master,  the  Great  Bishop  of  Souls, 
his  remaining  strength.  He  was  received  by  the  clergy 
and  gentry  with  every  demonstration  of  respect ;  the  clergy 
indeed  are  always  happy  to  see  a  parish  priest  sent  to 
preside  over  them,  for  they  know  that  he  can  sympathize 
with  them  in  their  difficulties,  and  that  his  advice  will  be 
practical,  far  different  from  that  which  heads  of  houses, 
overburdened  as  heads  of  houses  must  often  be,  with  clas- 
sical, if  not  with  theological  learning,  are  capable  of  giving. 
He  resided  at  Brecknock  where  his  charities  were  un- 
bounded. His  doors  were  always  thronged  with  the  poor 
and  needy ;  and  sixty  poor  were  fed  at  his  hospitable 
board  every  Sunday. 

He  soon  found,  however,  that  he  ought  to  have 
persevered  in  his  first  determination  not  to  accept  the 
bishopric.  He  was  too  infirm  to  make  his  visitation  at 
the  end  of  three  years.  But  he  appointed  a  commission 
to  visit  in  his  stead,  and  to  read  the  charge  which  he  had 
prepared,  very  difi'erent  from  the  dry  compositions  then  in 
vogue.  He  felt  that  as  an  experienced  parish  priest  he 
could  advise  working  clergy  how  to  act.  He  gave  them 
particular  directions  as  to  the  saying  of  prayers,  preaching, 
catechizing,  administering  the  Sacrament,  and  visiting  the 
sick,  and  as  to  their  private  devotions.  As  to  catechising, 
he  hinted  at  the  necessity  and  usefulness  of  it ;  and 
required  the  churchwardens  to  present  the  neglect  of  it, 
that  he  might  by  his  authority  rectify  it.  As  to  the 
administration  of  the  holy  Sacraments,  he  enjoined  them 
to  perform  Baptism  in  public,  and  chiefly  on  Sundays  and 
holy-days,  when  the  assemblies  of  Christians  are  fullest ; 
and  in  order  to  reform  the  abuses  of  that  kind,  he  resolved 
to  exert  his  episcopal  power.  He  exhorted  to  great 
reverence  and  solemnity  in  officiating  at  the  altar,  and  to 
the  observation  of  every  punctilio,  according  to  the  Rubrics 


BULL.  253 

compiled  for  that  purpose  ;  and  especially  to  take  care 
not  to  administer  the  holy  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
to  persons  known  to  be  vicious  and  scandalous.  As  to 
visiting  the  sick,  the  parochial  priest  is  directed  to  go 
without  being  sent  for,  when  he  hears  any  of  his  parishi- 
oners are  under  the  afflicting  hand  of  God,  and  to  perform 
tlie  duty,  according  to  the  rules  prescribed  by  the  Church  ; 
from  whence  also,  he  took  occasion  to  press  the  parochial 
clergy  to  acquaint  themselves  with  their  flock,  when  they 
are  in  health,  in  order  to  promote  the  great  end  of  their 
own  function,  the  salvation  of  souls. 

His  carefulness  in  administering  holy  orders  was  truly 
exemplary,  and  he  gave  much  sound  advice  to  the  candi- 
dates themselves ;  he  pressed  upon  them  especially  the 
necessity  of  ascertaining  how  far  they  could  say  conscien- 
tiously, that  they  were  inwardly  called  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  their  office.  He  advised  and  recommended  the  read- 
ing of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  next  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  especially  those  of  the  first  three  centuries. 
The  deference  the  Bishop  himself  paid  to  the  consentient 
testimony  of  primitive  writers,  is  apparent  in  all  his 
works.  The  following  passage  is  from  his  discourse  con- 
cerning the  state  of  man  before  the  fall,  in  which,  after  he 
had  justified  the  concurrent  interpretation  of  a  text  of 
Scripture  by  the  Catholic  doctors,  he  speaks  after  this 
manner ;  "  you  will  now,  I  presume,  easily  pardon  this 
large  digression,  being  in  itself  not  unuseful,  and  being 
also  necessary  to  remove  a  stone  of  ofience  often  cast  in 
the  way  of  the  reader,  that  converseth  with  the  writings 
of  the  ancient  Fathers.  Nay,  moreover,  I  shall  persuade 
myself,  that  from  this  one  instance,  among  many,  you 
will  learn  from  henceforth,  the  modesty  of  submitting  your 
judgment  to  that  of  the  Catholic  doctors,  where  they  are 
found  generally  to  concur  in  the  interpretation  of  a  text  of 
Scripture,  how  absurd  soever  that  interpretation  may  at 
first  seem  to  be.  For  upon  a  diligent  search  you  will  find, 
that  aliquid  latet  quod  non  patet,  there  is  a  mystery  in  tlie 
bottom,  and  that  what  at  first  view  seemed  verv  ridiculous, 


254  BULL. 

will  afterwards  appear  to  be  an  important  truth.  Let 
them  therefore,  who,  reading  the  Fathers,  are  prone  to 
laugh  at  that  in  them  which  they  do  not  presently  under- 
stand, seriously  consider,  quanto  suo  periculo  idfaciant.'' 

Sometime  before  his  last  illness  he  entertained  thoughts 
of  addressing  to  all  his  clergy,  by  way  of  a  circular  letter, 
in  order  to  recommend  to  their  consideration,  and  press 
upon  their  practice,  some  very  important  methods  for 
promoting  virtue  and  piety  in  his  diocese  ;  and  after  his 
death,  there  was  found  among  his  papers  a  letter  drawn 
up  to  that  purpose. 

In  this  the  first  thing  recommended,  was  the  establish- 
ing family  devotion.  The  second  thing  recommended,  is 
erecting  charity  schools.  The  third  thing  recommended, 
is  a  library  of  books  of  practical  divinity  for  youth.  The 
fourth  thing  recommended,  the  Welsh  Common  Prayer 
Book.  The  fifth  thing  recommended,  was  to  procure  the 
laws  to  be  put  in  execution  against  vice  and  immorality. 

He  was  taken  ill  on  the  '27th  of  September,  1709.  He 
perceived  his  end  approaching,  and  seeing  the  concourse 
of  his  medical  attendants,  he  thus  addressed  himself  to 
one  of  them  :  "  Doctor,  you  need  not  be  afraid  to  tell  me 
freely  what  your  opinion  of  me  is  ;  for  I  thank  my  good 
God  I  am  not  afraid  to  die :  it  is  what  I  have  expected 
long  ago ;  and  I  hope  I  am  not  unprepared  for  it  now." 
Repentance  and  mortification  had  been  so  much  the 
happy  work  of  his  strongest  and  healthful  days,  that  when 
death  approached,  he  received  the  summons,  not  only  with 
resignation,  but  with  some  degree  of  satisfaction.  He  had 
wisely  made  such  a  careful  preparation  for  his  last  hours, 
that  he  was  now  able  to  bear  the  thoughts  and  approaches 
of  his  great  change  without  amazement,  he  had  overcome 
that  strong  inclination  of  nature,  whereby  men  usually 
cleave  so  fast  to  life,  by  the  wiser  dictates  of  reason  and 
religion,  which  made  him  willing  and  contented  to  die 
whenever  God  thought  fit. 

This  sense  of  his  approaching  departure  out  of  the 
world,   made  him  careful  not  to  omit  any  thing  that  could 


BULL.  255 

now  be  done  both  for  himself  and  family,  for  the  better 
securing  their  common  interest  and  salvation.  During 
the  time  therefore  of  his  confinement,  he  would  often  have 
the  family  to  prayers  in  his  chamber  at  the  usual  hour  ; 
and  the  Prayers  for  the  Sick  in  the  Office  of  the  Visitation 
were  added]  upon  those  occasions,  and  sometimes  the 
Litany.  The  Prayers  for  the  Sick  were  frequently  repeated 
during  the  whole  time  of  his  illness,  at  which  he  expressed 
always  great  devotion.  He  would  sometimes  desire  to  receive 
absolution  in  the  Form  used  in  the  Communion  Office, 
which  he  thought  came  nearer  to  the  precatory  forms  of 
absolution  mentioned  in  the  Fathers  than  any  other. 
But  it  doth  not  appear,  says  Nelson,  "  that  he  hereby  con- 
demned the  use  of  that  form,  which  is,  at  least  in  some 
cases,  prescribed  by  our  excellent  Church  in  her  office  for 
the  Visitation  of  the  Sick,  or  that  he  had  any  doubt  con- 
cerning the  benefits  of  sacerdotal  absolution,  or  of  that 
authority  which  is  derived  to  the  ministers  or  delegates  of 
Christ  of  forgiving  the  penitent  their  sins  in  '  His  Name,' 
since  in  his  last  acts  of  preparation  for  death,  he  earnestly 
desired  it  and  solemnly  received  it." 

He  made  a  general  confession  of  his  sins  and  a  profes- 
sion of  his  faith,  very  affecting  and  beautiful,  before  he 
died,  and  he  professed,  that  as  he  had  always  lived,  so  he 
was  now  resolved  to  die,  in  the  Communion  of  the  Church 
of  England ;  and  declared,  that  he  believed  that  it  was 
the  best-constituted  Church  this  day  in  the  world ;  for 
that  its  doctrine,  government,  and  way  of  worship,  were, 
in  the  main,  the  same  with  those  of  the  primitive  Church. 
Here  he  put  up  some  prayers  for  its  peace  and  prosperity ; 
and  declaring  again,  that  he  was  resolved  to  die  in  its 
communion,  he  desired  absolution,  and  received  it  as 
before  mentioned.  And  it  is  no  wonder  that  on  his  death- 
bed, the  good  Bishop  professed  such  an  high  esteem  for 
the  Church  of  England,  since  in  the  time  of  his  health 
and  greatest  vigour,  he  was  used  to  express  his  zealous 
concern  for  her  after  the  following  manner :  "I  would 
not  be  so  presumptuous  as  to  say  positively,  that  I  am 


556  BULL. 

able  to  bear  so  great  a  trial ;  but  according  to  my  sincere 
thoughts  of  myself,  I  could,  through  God's  assistance,  lay 
down  my  life,  upon  condition  that  all  those  who  dissent 
from  the  Church  of  England  were  united  in  her  com- 
munion." 

The  evening  before  he  departed,  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Arch- 
deacon Stephens,  arrived  from  a  great  jouraey,  upon  the 
news  he  received  of  his  dangerous  illness.  The  Bishop 
embraced  him  with  great  satisfaction,  when  he  raised 
himself  up  in  his  bed  to  give  him  his  blessing.  When 
Mr.  Stephens  expressed  his  great  sorrow  and  concern,  to 
find  him  in  so  great  misery  by  the  complaints  he  made, 
he  told  him,  "  he  had  endured  a  great  deal,  that  he  did  not 
think  he  had  so  much  strength  of  nature,  but  that  now  it 
was  near  being  spent,  and  that  in  God's  good  time  he 
should  be  delivered."  And  when  Mr.  Stephens,  in  order 
to  support  him,  urged  that  his  reward  would  be  great  in 
Heaven,  the  good  Bishop  replied,  "  My  trust  is  in  God, 
through  the  merits  of  Christ."  And  being  prevented  from 
enlarging,  by  the  exquisiteness  of  his  pains,  he  desired 
Mr.  Stephens  to  retire,  and  refresh  him-elf  after  his  jour- 
ney. Some  little  time  after  this,  he  told  those  that  were 
about  him,  that  he  perceived  he  had  some  symptoms  of 
the  near  approach  of  death  ;  and  ordered  them  to  call  the 
doctor  to  him.  And  when  he  came,  he  told  him  he 
thought  he  felt  himself  a  dying ;  to  which  the  doctor 
answered,  that  he  could  not  say  he  would  live  many  hours. 
Upon  this  he  sent  for  his  wife  and  children,  and  the  rest 
of  his  family,  and  desired  them  to  pray  with  him,  and  for 
him.  And  when  prayers  were  over,  he  took  his  solemn 
leave  of  every  one  in  particular ;  giving  each  of  them  some 
serious  exhortation  and  advice.  And  this  being  done,  he 
gave  them  his  benediction,  and  dismissed  them. 

He  continued  in  this  state  longer  than  he  expected,  but 
his  devotions  continued  fervent  and  happy  to  the  last ;  he 
recommended  his  soul  into  the  hands  of  his  Creator,  in 
several  short  but  most  excellent  prayers,  and  repeated 
most  part  of  the  seventy-first  Psalm,  so  far  as  it  suited  his 


BULL.  257 

circumstances,  than  which  nothing  could  be  more  proper, 
to  express  his  trust  and  dependance  upon  the  power  and 
goodness  of  God,  and  the  continual  want  he  had  of  his 
grace  and  assistance ;  moreover,  he  ordered  his  chaplain 
to  use  the  commendatory  prayer,  when  he  perceived  him 
to  be  at  the  point  of  expiring,  which  was  accordingly  done 
several  times. 

About  nine  in  the  morning  his  spirits  began  to  sink, 
and  his  speech  to  falter,  and  a  few  minutes  after,  without 
any  visible  sign  of  pain  or  difficulty,  with  two  gentle  sighs, 
he  resigned  his  soul  to  God,  the  17th  of  February,  17^  9. 
The  last  word  he  spoke  was  Amen,  to  the  commendatory 
prayer,  which  he  repeated  twice  distinctly  and  audibly 
after  his  usual  manner,  a  very  little  while  before  he 
died. 

As  to  the  devotional  exercises  of  this  great  man  in  his 
most  active  days,  Mr.  Nelson  says,  there  is  great  reason  to 
believe  that  he  was  very  frequent  in  his  private  prayers ; 
and  by  his  rising  early,  and  going  to  bed  late,  he  secured 
retirement  sufficient  for  that  purpose.  Besides,  they  w^ho 
lay  near  his  study,  made  discoveries  of  that  nature,  from 
the  warmth  and  fervour  and  importunity  used  in  his 
spiritual  exercises,  when  he  thought  all  the  family  safe 
at  rest ;  and  the  way  he  took  sometimes  to  express  the 
pious  and  devout  affections  of  his  mind  by  singing  of 
Psalms,  made  it  more  difficult  to  be  concealed.  It  is  true 
indeed,  that  he  has  left  no  compositions  of  this  kind 
behind  him,  which  make  it  reasonable  to  suppose,  that 
in  his  closet  he  gave  the  desires  of  his  soul  a  freer  vent, 
and  that  when  he  conversed  with  God  alone,  he  presented 
Him  with  the  natural  language  of  the  heart. 

The  constant  frame  and  temj)er  of  his  mind  was  so 
truly  devout,  that  he  would  frequently  in  the  day-time,  as 
occasion  offered,  use  short  prayers  and  ejaculations,  the 
natural  breathings  of  pious  souls ;  and  when  he  was 
sitting  in  silence  in  his  family,  and  they,  as  he  thought, 
intent  upon  other    matters,   he   would    often,    with    an 

VOL.  III.  z 


258  BULLINGER. 

inexpressible  air  of  great  seriousness,  lift  up  his  hands 
and  eyes  to  heaven,  and  sometimes  drop  tears.  And  as  a 
farther  evidence  of  this  true  Christian  frame  of  spirit,  he 
took  great  delight  in  discoursing  of  the  things  of  God, 
particularly  of  His  love  and  mercy  in  the  daily  instances 
of  His  watchful  providence  over  mankind,  and  the  right 
use  that  ought  to  be  made  of  it.  He  would  often  recount 
to  those  he  conversed  with,  the  wonders  of  Divine  good- 
ness already  vouchsafed  to  himself  and  his  friends  ;  their 
happy  and  amazing  escapes  out  of  several  sorts  of  dangers, 
their  unexpected  good  success,  not  without  rejoicing  in 
the  Lord ;  and  invite  others  to  tell  what  God  had  done  for 
them ;  of  which  he  would  make  a  noble  use  by  way  of 
relis[ious  inference  and  exhortation,  till  he  made  the  hearts 
of  his  hearers  burn  within  them. 

His  English  works  were  published  by  Mr.  Nelson,  in 
three  vols,  1713  ;  and  his  whole  works,  Latin  and  English, 
were  published  at  the  Clarendon  Press  in  1827,  under 
the  editorship  of  the  late  regius  professor  of  divinity. 
Dr.  Burton. 

All  the  materials  for  this  article  are  taken  from  Nelsons 
Life  of  Bull,  our  only  aiitJiority.  See  the  last  volume  of 
the  Oxford  edition  of  Bulls  Works. 


BULLINGER,    HEKEY. 

Henry  Bullinger  was  born  at  Bremgarten,  a  village 
near  Zurich,  in  Switzerland,  July  18th,  1504.  At  the  age 
of  twelve  he  was  sent  by  his  father  to  Emmeric,  a  town  in 
the  duchy  of  Cleves.  It  was  a  good  school  at  that  time, 
and  Mosellanus  was  one  of  the  masters.  Here  he  remained 
three  years,  during  which  time  his  father,  to  make  him 
feel  for  the  distresses  of  others,  and  be  more  frugal  and 
modest  in  his  dress,  and  more  temperate  in  his  diet, 
withheld  his  customary  pecuniary  allowance ;  so  that 
Bullinger  was  forced,   according  to  the  custom  of  those 


BULLINGER.  259 

times,  to  subsist  on  the  alms  he  got  by  singing  from  door 
to  door.  While  here,  he  was  strongly  inclined  to  join  the 
Carthusians,  but  was  dissuaded  from  it  by  an  elder 
brother.  At  fifteen  years  of  age  he  was  sent  to  Cologne, 
where  he  studied  logic,  and  commenced  B.A.  at  sixteen 
years  old.  He  afterwards  betook  himself  to  the  study  of 
divinity  and  canon  law.  To  the  school-divines  he  took  a 
boyish  prejudice,  so  that,  in  15'20,  he  wrote  some  dialogues 
against  them.  The  first  two  attacked  the  divines  gener- 
ally ;  the  two  follo\ving  contained  an  apology  for  Reuchlin; 
the  title  of  the  fifth  was  Promotores.  They  were  never 
printed,  and  while  they  evinced  the  talent,  they  betrayed 
more  evidently  the  extreme  presumption  of  the  youth. 
Whatever  other  faults  may  be  attributed  to  the  school 
divines,  metaphysical  acumen,  deep  thought,  and  profound 
learning,  were  pre-eminently  theirs,  and  for  a  boy  of 
sixteen  to  attempt  to  refute  them  is  only  less  absurd  than 
the  conduct  of  a  biographer  such  as  Simler,  who  mentions 
this  as  creditable  to  Buliinger.  But  his  study  of  the 
school  divines  had  the  effect  of  sending  him  to  the 
Fathers.  He  studied  St.  Chrysostom's  homilies  on 
St.  Matthew,  with  portions  of  the  writings  of  St.  Augustine, 
Origen,  and  St.  Ambrose.  Observing  that  as  the  school- 
men quoted  the  Fathers,  so  the  Fathers  quoted  Scripture, 
to  the  study  of  Scripture  he  betook  himself,  especially  to 
the  study  of  the  New  Testament,  with  such  assistauce  as 
St.  Jerome  and  other  commentators  afforded.  But  not  con- 
tent with  these  studies,  having  now  pronounced  sentence 
on  the  schoolmen,  he  thought  of  deciding  for  himself  as  to 
certain  other  works  which  were  much  talked  of,  and  he  pro- 
cured and  clandestinely  read  Luther  De  Captivitate  Baby- 
lonica,  and  De  Bonis  Operibus.  He  was  much  delighted 
also  with  Melancthon's  Commcm-places.  But  though  the 
young  man  was  favourable  enough  to  any  movement, 
and  could  easily  perceive,  as  most  persons  at  that  time 
did,  the  necessity  of  a  reformation,  it  does  not  appear  that 
these  writings  did  more  than  unsettle  his  mind.  He  took 
his  M.A.  degree  in  152-2,   and  returning  to  his  father, 


060  BULLINGER. 

remained  there  for  a  year,  pursuing  his  studies  privately. 
Being  called  by  the  Abbot  of  La  Chapelle,  a  Cistercian 
abbey  near  Zurich,  to  teach  in  that  place,  he  did  so  with 
great  reputation  for  four  years.  Many  persons  resorted  to 
his  lectures,  and  to  them  he  read  the  New  Testament, 
portions  of  Erasmus,  and  Melancthon's  Common-places. 
In  1527  he  was  sent  by  his  abbot  to  Zurich,  and  there  he 
attended  for  five  months  the  preaching  and  lectures  of  the 
celebrated  Zuinglius,  while  he  perfected  his  knowledge  of 
Greek,  and  commenced  the  study  of  Hebrew.  On  his 
return  to  La  Chapelle  he  prevailed  with  the  abbot  and  his 
monks  to  adopt  the  reformation  of  Zuinglius,  to  which 
they  had  been  before  inclined.  In  1528  he  went  with 
Zuinglius  to  the  disputation  at  Berne.  In  the  year 
following  he  was  made  pastor  of  the  reformed  at  Brem- 
garten,  his  native  place,  and  married  Ann  Adlischuiler,  by 
whom  he  had  six  sons  and  five  daughters.  His  wife  died  of 
the  plague  in  1564 ;  and  the  fury  for  a  marrying  ministry 
was  at  that  time  so  great,  amounting  to  absolute  fanati- 
cism, that  he  gave  great  offence  by  not  marrying  again. 
It  seemed  to  be  an  impeachment  of  his  orthodoxy,  and 
his  vindicators  had  to  assure  the  public  that  he  had  no 
doubt  of  the  validity  of  second  marriages.  In  vain  did  the 
poor  widower  say  that  his  first  wife  was  living  in  his 
heart,  and  in  the  children  she  had  brought  him  ;  in  vain 
did  he  assert  that  he  had  a  daughter  who  governed  his 
family  prudently,  and  that  he  was  himself  bowed  down  by 
the  weight  of  sixty  years  :  the  zealots  for  marriage,  accord- 
ing to  Simler,  "  had  recourse  to  secret  reasons,  which 
might  be  the  cause  of  his  continuing  a  widower,  even  to 
the  prejudice  of  his  health."  When  the  feeling  was  so 
fanatical  on  this  point,  we  are  not  to  be  surprised  at 
finding  some  of  the  leading  reformers  favourable  to  the 
introduction,  in  certain  cases,  of  polygamy  among  the 
laity.  (See  Life  of  Bucer.J  Bullinger  violated  no  vows  by 
his  marriage,  and  as  a  family  man  was  peculiarly  happy. 
He  had  many  changes  and  chances  to  encounter  before 
he  lost  the  wife,  who  lived  in  his  heart  to  the  last,  and 


BULLINGER  261 

doubtless  he  found  in  her  the  comfort  which  in  domestic 
intercourse  he  so  truly  merited. 

When  he  settled  at  Bremgarten  he  found  some  who  car- 
ried out  his  own  principles  to  what  he  considered  a  vicious 
extreme,  and  he  had  to  refute  the  Anabaptists  on  the 
principles  they  held  in  common  :  a  difficult  task,  as  they 
naturally  supposed  their  private  judgment  to  be  as  good 
as  his.  He  wrote  in  defence  of  tithes,  which  they  con- 
tended should  be  abolished:  he  afterwards  wrote  six 
books  against  the  Anabaptists,  in  which  he  shewed  their 
origin  and  progress,  and  endeavoured  to  refute  their 
opinions. 

On  the  victory  of  the  Catholic  cantons  over  the  Re- 
formed in  1531,  Bullinger  was  obliged  to  leave  his  coun- 
try, and  he  took  refuge  in  Zurich.  Zuinglius,  the 
reformer  and  pastor  of  Zurich,  had  died  valiantly  in  the 
field  of  battle,  fighting  against  the  Papists,  not  perhaps 
the  most  appropriate  place  for  the  death  of  one  who  had 
appointed  himself  to  be  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  of  peace ; 
and  as  a  successor  to  Zuinglius,  Bullinger  was  selected. 
Zuinglius  himself  had  mentioned  him  for  his  successor 
if  he  should  die  in  battle.  It  was  the  opinion  of  this 
"  reverend  soldier,  or  gallant  divine,"  as  his  enemies  were 
pleased  to  style  him,  that  Luther's  scheme  of  reformation 
fell  very  short  of  the  extent  to  which  it  ought  to  have  been 
carried.  Under  the  impression  we  have  mentioned,  and 
with  a  view,  as  he  termed  it,  of  restoring  the  Church  to 
its  original  purity,  Zuinglius  Sought  to  abolish  many  doc- 
trines and  rites  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  which 
Luther  had  retained.  In  some  points  of  doctrine,  he  also 
differed  from  Luther,  and  his  opinion  on  the  Real  Presence 
made  a  complete  separation  between  them.  Luther,  as 
we  have  already  mentioned,  held  that,  together  with  the 
bread  and  wine,  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  were  really 
present  in  the  Eucharist.  Zuinglius  held,  that  the  bread 
and  wine  were  only  signs  and  symbols  of  the  absent  Body 
and  Blood  of  Christ;  so  that  the  eucharistic  rite  was  merely 
z2 


260  BULLINGER. 

a  pious  and  solemn  ceremony,  to  bring  it  to  the  remem- 
brance of  the  faithful.  The  opinions  of  Zuinglius  were 
adopted  in  Switzerland,  and  several  neighbouring  nations. 
They  gave  rise  to  the  most  violent  animosities  between 
their  favourers,  and  the  disciples  of  Luther.  Frequent 
advances  to  peace  were  made  by  the  Zuinglians :  Luther 
uniformly  rejected  them  with  sternness.  He  declared  an 
union  to  be  impossible  :  he  called  them  "  ministers  of 
Satan."  When  they  entreated  him  to  consider  them  as 
brothers,  "  What  fraternity,"  he  exclaimed,  "  do  you  ask 
with  me,  if  you  persist  in  your  belief?"  On  one  occasion, 
the  ingenuity  of  Bucer  enabled  him  to  frame  a  creed, 
which  each  party,  construing  the  words  in  his  own  sense, 
might  sign.  This  effected  a  temporary  truce;  but  the 
division  soon  broke  out  with  fresh  animosity.  "Happy," 
exclaimed  Luther,  "  is  the  man  who  has  not  been  of  the 
council  of  the  Sacramentarians  ;  who  has  not  walked  in 
the  ways  of  the  Zuinglians." 

Such  was  the  party  at  the  head  of  which  BuUinger  was 
now  placed,  and  as  a  party  leader  he  conducted  himseK 
with  prudence  as  well  as  skill.  He  was  assailed  on  both 
sides,  he  had  in  the  first  place  to  contend  against  Faber, 
styled  the  Malleus  Hoereticorum,  that  the  truth  of  a  reli- 
gion is  not  to  be  decided  by  the  good  or  bad  success  of  a 
battle ;  and  had  then  to  exert  himself  against  those  who 
proceeded  from  denying  the  Real  Presence  of  our  Lord  in 
the  Eucharist,  to  the  denial  of  His  Divinity.  The  argu- 
ments used  by  himself  and  his  followers  against  the  Pro- 
testant doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence,  seemed  to  tend,  in 
the  private  judgment  of  many,  to  scepticism,  on  the  latter 
most  sacred  and  solemn  subject.  He  not  only  wrote  there- 
fore a  work  on  the  two-fold  nature  of  our  Lord,  but  at  a 
meeting  held  at  Basil,  became  anxious  to  accede  to  Bucer's 
plan  of  union  between  the  Lutherans  and  the  Zuin- 
glians. But  if  Bullinger  was  rather  more  inclined  at  this 
period  to  yield,  such  was  not  the  case  with  Luther.  In 
1542  Leo  Judah's  version  of  the  Bible  was  finished,  and 


BULLINGER.  263 

the  printer  sent  a  copy  to  Luther.  Luther  desired  him 
to  send  no  more  of  the  Tigurine  minister's  books  ;  for  he 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  them,  nor  would  he  read 
any  of  their  works  :  for  (said  he)  the  Church  of  God  can 
hold  no  communion  with  them :  and  whereas  they  have 
taken  much  pains,  all  is  in  vain;  for  themselves  are 
damned,  and  they  lead  many  miserable  men  to  hell  with 
them.  Adding  that  he  would  have  no  communion  with 
their  damnable  and  blasphemous  doctrine,  and  that  so 
long  as  he  lived,  he  would  with  his  prayers  and  books 
oppose  them. 

In  the  year  1544,  Luther  published  his  Annotations  on 
Genesis,  in  which  he  inveighed  bitterly  against  the  Sacra- 
mentarians,  (as  he  called  them)  saying,  that  Zuinglius, 
CEcolampadius,  and  their  disciples,  were  heretics,  and 
eternally  damned.  Melancthon  would  fain  have  hindered 
the  publication,  but  could  not,  whereupon  he  wrote  to 
Bullinger,  telling  him  how  much  he  was  grieved  at  this 
violent  proceeding  of  Luther,  which  he  knew  was  so  plea- 
sing to  their  common  adversaries  tlie  Papists.  When 
this  book  of  Luther's  was  published,  there  was  much  dis- 
pute whether  it  should  be  answered  :  Bucer  was  against 
it,  because  Luther  was  grown  old,  and  had  deserved 
well  of  religion;  but  others  thought  that  it  would  be  a 
betraying  of  the  truth  not  to  answer  it :  wherefore  Bullin- 
ger was  appointed  to  that  work,  which  he  accordingly 
performed  with  great  judgment. 

In  1546  Luther  died,  and  the  German  war  began  be- 
tween the  Emperor  and  the  Protestants ;  at  which  time 
many  accused  the  Tigurines  on  account  of  Bullinger 's 
book,  as  if  they  had  insulted  over  Luther  after  his  death, 
and  gloried  that  he  died  of  grief  because  he  could  not 
answer  that  book.  Philip,  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  acquainted 
Bullinger  with  these  reports. 

Bullinger  replied  by  giving  him  thanks  for  his  zeal  in 
endeavouring  to  effect  the  peace  of  the  Church,  and  for 
acquainting  him  with  these  rumours ;  he  then  told  him 
how  much  he  was  grieved   that   some    turbulent  spirits 


264  BULLINGER. 

sought  by  such  reports  to  bring  an  odium  upon  the  Helve- 
tians, and  to  aUenate  the  princes'  affections  from  them : 
whereas  (saith  he)  it  is  not  the  manner  of  the  Helvetian 
divines  to  reproach  any,  either  in  their  sermons  or  lec- 
tures, much  less  Luther,  who  had  deserved  so  well  of 
religion:  and  although  Luther  in  the  controversy  about 
the  Sacrament  had  used  much  reproachful  language 
against  them,  yet  they  never  made  mention  of  him  but 
with  honour.  Whereas  they  were  certainly  informed  that 
many  of  the  Saxon  ministers  used  divers  reproachful 
speeches  against  them,  calling  them  Sacramentarians, 
Image-haters,  Blasphemers,  &c.  Yea  that  in  his  own 
university  of  Marpurg,  Theobald  Thammer  in  his  public 
lectures  had  greatly  aspersed  them ;  wherefore  he  earnestly 
requested  him  to  consider  their  innocency,  and  to  enjoin 
silence  to  such  intemperate  sj)irits,  &c.  For  (said  he)  we 
cannot  with  Luther  confess  the  bread  to  be  the  natural 
Body  of  Christ,  and  that  Judas,  and  other  wicked  men 
received  His  Body  as  well  as  Peter  and  the  saints,  which 
are  Luther's  own  words.  Yet  we  are  ready  to  preserve 
peace,  so  that  it  be  not  urged  upon  us  to  yield  to  those 
things  which  neither  ourselves  can  understand,  nor  can 
we  teach  them  to  others.  In  all  other  things  you  shall 
find  us  as  peaceable  men,  ready  to  give  an  account  of  our 
faith,  whenever  it  shall  be  required  of  us. 

The  Landgrave  was  well  satisfied  with  this  answer, 
being  well  inclined  to  the  Helvetians,  and  to  Bullinger 
in  particular,  to  whom  (after  the  war  was  begun)  he 
often  wrote,  desiring  also  the  Protestant  cantons  to 
send  some  auxiliaries  to  them.  But  upon  serious  deli- 
beration they  denied  this  request:  for  (said  they)  if 
we  shall  send  you  aid,  the  Popish  cantons  will  also  aid 
the  Emperor,  which  hitherto  (moved  by  our  example) 
they  have  refused,  though  they  have  been  earnestly  soli- 
cited both  by  the  Pope  and  Emperor  thereto.  In  the 
meantime  our  ministers  cease  not  daily  to  pray  for  the 
peace  of  Germany,  and  we  have  had  public  fasts  for 
that  end. 


BULLINGER.  265 

It  is  highly  creditable  to  Bullinger  and  his  followers 
that  when  many  of  the  Protestants  on  the  publication  of 
the  Interim  in  1548,  fled  to  Zurich,  they  gave  them  a 
kind  and  hospitable  reception,  which  was  not,  however, 
returned  with  the  gratitude  which  was  expected. 

In  the  midst  of  these  controversies  Bullinger  was  zea- 
lous in  exercising  discipline  among  the  preachers  of  his 
communion,  through  synods,  in  establishing  schools,  and 
in  increasing  the  library  at  Zurich. 

In  1549,  he  concurred  with  Calvin  in  drawing  up  a 
formulary,  expressing  the  conformity  of  belief  which  sub- 
sisted between  the  Churches  of  Zurich  and  Geneva,  and 
intended,  on  the  part  of  Calvin,  to  remove  any  suspicions 
that  he  inclined  to  the  opinion  of  Luther  with  respect  to 
the  Eucharist,  though  Calvin's  ^dews  were  less  heretical 
on  the  subject  than  those  of  Zuinglius.  He  also  edited 
the  writings  of  Zuinglius,  and  gave  his  protection  to  the 
French  refugees,  and  to  the  English  divines  who  fled 
from  the  persecution  raised  in  England  by  Queen  Mary. 
He  likewise  ably  confuted  the  Pope's  bull  excommuni- 
cating Queen  Elizabeth.  In  154G,  he  by  his  influence 
hindered  the  Swiss  from  renewing  their  league  with 
Henry  II.  of  France ;  representing  to  them,  that  it  was 
neither  just  nor  lawful  for  a  man  to  consent  to  be  hired  to 
shed  another  mans  blood,  from  whom  himself  had  never 
received  any  injury.  In  1551  he  wrote  a  book,  the  pur- 
port of  which  was  to  show,  that  the  council  of  Trent  had 
no  other  design  than  to  oppress  the  professors  of  sound 
religion ;  and,  therefore,  that  the  cantons  should  pay  no 
regard  to  the  invitations  of  the  Pope,  which  solicited  them 
to  send  deputies  to  that  council.  In  1561  he  commenced 
a  controversy  with  Brentius,  concerning  the  ubiquity  of 
the  Body  of  Christ.  This  controversy  lasted  for  a  con- 
siderable time.  It  was  easy  on  Catholic  principles  to 
refute  Brentius  who  was  an  uncompromising  ubiquitarian, 
but  on  the  subject  of  our  Lord's  presence,  Bullinger  was 
not  orthodox  himself.  To  ascribe  ubiquity  to  our  Lord's 
Body,  as  some  of  the  Lutherans  did,  would  be  in  effect  to 


266  BULLINGER. 

confound  the  two  natures  of  our  Lord.  But  to  contend 
as  Bullinger  did,  that  our  Lord  being  present  in  heaven 
cannot  also  be  present  in  many  places  upon  earth  also,  is 
to  forget  that  the  spiritual  Body  differs  from  the  natural 
Body,  and  to  contradict  our  Blessed  Lord's  own  most 
gracious  promises,  that  He,  the  God-Man,  will  be  pre- 
sent where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  His 
Name,  and  in  the  ministrations  of  the  Apostles  and  their 
successors. 

It  was  a  misfortune  that  so  many  of  those  who  were 
persecuted  in  the  reign  of  Mary,  sought  refuge  in  Zurich, 
as  has  been  observed  before,  for  they  imbibed  some  of  the 
heretical  principles  of  the  Zuinglians.  Some  of  these, 
when  they  returned  home,  consulted  Bullinger  on  the 
subject  of  conformity,  and  Bullinger's  advice  was,  that 
although  there  is  much  of  Popery  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, these  men  had  better  conform  to  keep  out  the 
Papists  and  Protestants,  or  followers  of  Luther.  They 
were  to  do  a  little  evil  that  what  he  thought  a  greater  evil 
might  be  prevented.  This  perhaps  is  the  reason  why  so 
many  dishonest  men  are  still  found  in  the  Church  of 
England,  men  who  actually  deny  the  doctrine  of  regenera- 
tion in  Baptism.  They  have  the  feelings  of  Bullinger  on 
the  policy  of  remaining,  and  while  they  declare  in  the 
sight  of  God  that  they  give  their  assent  and  consent  to 
every  thing  in  the  Prayer  Book,  venture  even  to  preach 
against  a  fundamental  doctrine,  with  which  almost  every 
other  doctrine  is  directly  or  indirectly  connected.  In 
writing  to  Robert  Home,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  Bullinger 
says:  "As  far  as  I  can  form  an  opinion,  your  common 
adversaries  are  only  aiming  at  this,  that  on  your  removal 
they  may  put  in  your  places  either  Papists,  or  else 
Lutheran  doctors  and  presidents,  who  are  not  very  much 
unlike  them.  Should  this  come  to  pass,  not  only  will  all 
ecclesiastical  order  be  disturbed,  and  the  number  of 
most  absurd  ceremonies  be  increased,  but  even  images 
(which  we  know  are  defended  by  the  Lutherans)  will 
be  restored ;  the  artolatry,  [or  worshipping  of  the  bread] 


BULLINGER.  267 

in  the  Lord's  Supper  will  be  reintroduced ;    private  abso- 
lution,  and  after  this,    auricular    confession    will    creep 
in    by  degrees ;    and    an   infinite  number  of  other  evils 
will  arise,  which  will  both   occasion  confusion  in  gene- 
ral,  and   also  bring  into  danger  many  godly  individuals. 
For  I  doubt  not  but  that  you  have  met  with  so  much 
success  in  your  ministry,   as  that  you  have  very  many 
throughout  the    whole  kingdom,  both   nobility,  citizens, 
husbandmen,    men,    in   short,    of  every   rank   and  class 
in   society,    who    are   most   favourably   disposed  to    reli- 
gion, and  who  abhor   all    doctrine  that   may   open    the 
door  to  superstition  and  idolatry ;  and  who  would  feel  it 
intolerable  that  a  tyranny  should  again  be  set  up  in  the 
Church,  to  burden  the  consciences  of  the  unhappy  people. 
These,  if  you  depart  from  the  helm  of  the  Church,  will 
most  assuredly  be  subjected  to  the  rage  of  their  adversaries, 
who  will  establish  examinations  and  inquisitions  against 
them,    as   well   public  as  private ;    will  accuse   them    of 
heresy  and  sedition,   and  through  them  will  render  the 
whole  cause  of  religion  suspected  and  hateful,  both  to  hen 
most  Serene  Majesty,  and  all  the  nobility  of  the  realm. 
We  must  therefore  carefully  guard  against  their  wicked 
artifices,  lest  we  should  yield  to  them  of  our  own  accord 
what  they  have  now  for  many  years  endeavoured  to  obtain 
with  much  labour  and  diligence. 

"  But  if  any  one  should  ask  me  whether  I  approve  of 
those  who  first  enacted,  or  are  now  zealous  maintainors  of, 
those  laws  by  which  the  dregs  of  Popery  are  retained, 
I  candidly  and  freely  answer  that  I  do  not  approve  of 
them.  For  they  are  either  acting  too  imprudently,  if  they 
are  on  our  side;  or  else  they  are  treacherously  laying 
snares  for  the  hberty  of  the  Churches.  But  although 
they  have  obtruded  upon  you  these  dregs,  as  if  they  were 
necessary  for  the  worship  of  God,  for  a  safe  conscience, 
and  the  salvation  of  the  soul,  I  should  think  that  every 
thing  ought  rather  to  be  submitted  to,  than  that  you 
should  suffer  a  godly  people  to  be  led  away  by  them  from 
a  pure  profession  of  faith." 


268  BUNYAN. 

The  bitterness  of  Bullinger  against  the  Protestants  as 
well  as  the  Papists  is  here  to  be  remarked.  There  is  a 
letter  written  by  Bullinger  to  Lawrence  Humphrey  and 
Thomas  Sampson  which  is  very  creditable  to  him,  on  the 
Vestiaiian  controversy.  It  is  too  long  to  insert,  but  is 
worthy  of  perusal  in  these  days.  Bullinger  died  on  the 
17th  September,  1575.  His  funeral  oration  was  pro- 
nounced by  John  Stukius,  and  his  life  was  written  by 
Josias  Simler,  (who  had  married  one  of  his  daughters,) 
and  was  published  at  Zurich  in  1575,  4to.  His  printed 
works  are  very  numerous,  doctrinal,  practical,  and  contro- 
versial, and  form  ten  volumes  folio. — Vita  a  Simlero. 
Melchior  Adam.  Clark's  Medulla.  Bayle.  Butlers  Con- 
fessions.   Zurich  Letters. 


BUNYAN,    JOHN. 

John  Bunyan  was  bom  at  Elstow,  in  Bedfordshire,  in 
1628.  He  learnt  to  read  and  write,  and  followed  his 
father's  business,  which  was  that  of  a  travelling  tinker. 
For  some  years  he  lead  a  dissolute  life,  but  at  length 
he  was  converted,  and  began  to  study  the  Scriptures,  in 
which  he  acquired  a  great  knowledge.  In  the  civil  war  he 
entered  into  the  parliament  army,  and  was  present  at  the 
siege  of  Leicester.  About  1655  he  became  member  of  a 
Baptist  congregation  at  Bedford,  to  whom  he  occasionally 
preached ;  for  which,  at  the  Restoration,  he  was  taken  up 
and  confined  in  Bedford  gaol  twelve  years  and  a  half,  sup- 
porting himself  and  family  all  the  while  by  tagging  laces. 
It  was  here  that  he  wrote  his  Pilgrim's  Progress,  a  reli- 
gious allegory,  which  has  gone  through  fifty  editions,  and 
been  translated  into  many  languages.  On  his  release  from 
prison,  for  which  he  was  indebted  to  Bishop  Barlow,  of 
Lincoln,  he  became  teacher  of  the  Baptist  congregation  at 
Bedford.  He  also  travelled  into  different  parts  of  England 
to  visit  the  people  of  that  persuasion,  on  which  account  he 
was  called  Bishop  Bunyan.    He  died  in  London  of  a  fever 


BURGES.  269 

in  1688.  His  works,  which  have  been  often  printed  col- 
lectively  and  in  a  separate  form,  make  2  vols,  folio. — 
Biog.  Brit. 


BURCHARD. 

St.  Buechaed  was  born  in  England  at  the  close  of  the 
seventh  century.  In  732,  when  St.  Boniface  was  labour- 
ing for  the  conversion  of  the  Germans,  St.  Burchard  se- 
conded his  exertions  with  so  much  zeal  and  success,  that 
his  character  and  influence  rose  considerably,  insomuch 
that,  when  the  nobles  of  France  designed  to  depose 
Childeric  III.,  for  the  purpose  of  placing  Pepin-le-Bref 
upon  the  throne,  St.  Burchard  was  deputed  to  explain 
and  justify  the  measure  before  the  pontiff,  Gregory  III. ; 
a  negotiation  in  which  he  was  eminently  successful;  and 
in  consideration  of  his  services,  he  was  afterwards  made 
Bishop  of  Wurtzburg,  by  Pepin.  He  was  the  first  prelate 
of  that  see,  being  consecrated  by  St.  Boniface  himself.  He 
afterwards  resigned  his  bishopric,  and  retired  to  Hoym- 
burg  with  six  fervent  monks,  where  he  died  in  752.  Out 
of  veneration  for  his  sanctity  King  Pepin,  in  752,  declared 
the  Bishops  of  Wurtzburg  dukes  of  Franconia,  with  all 
civil  jurisdiction. — Butler. 


BURGES,    OR   BtlRGESS,    CORNELIUS. 

Cornelius  Burges  was  educated  at  Oxford  about  the 
year  1611,  when  he  took  his  B.  A.  degree  at  Wadham 
College.  There  is  scarcely  any  public  character  of  the 
age  of  the  great  Rebellion,  whose  personal  histoiy  is  more 
instructive  than  that  of  Cornelius  Burges.  He  was  a  man 
of  mature  age  when  those  civil  strifes  began,  had  learning 
enough  to  make  a  handsome  shew,  and  gained  the  fame 
of  an  eloquent  preacher.  Nor  had  his  merits  been 
VOL.  in.  2  A 


270  BURGES. 

altogether  overlooked ;  for  he  was  the  incumbent  of  two 
livings  in  the  diocese  of  London,  the  vicarage  of  Watford 
in  Essex,  and  the  rectory  of  St.  Magnus  in  the  city,  and 
he  had  the  honour  of  being  appointed  one  of  the  chaplains 
in  ordinary  to  Charles  I.  But  he  was  one  of  those  spirits, 
in  whom  a  cold  avarice  disguises  itself  under  the  outward 
form  of  public  zeal.  Hence,  having  for  some  time  courted 
higher  preferment  by  preaching  and  writing  in  defence  of 
obedience  and  conformity,  and  attacking  in  no  measured 
terms  "the  rabble  of  mad  mar-prelates  and  bold-faced 
mercenary  empirics,"  who  were  so  much  admired  by  "silly 
women  and  other  ninnies,"  for  speaking  evil  of  dignities, 
[in  his  ''Fire  of  the  Sanctuary  newly  discovered.'"  Land. 
1625,  p.  82,  dc.'] — when  the  preferment  did  not  come, 
and  the  discontents  increased,  he  suddenly  changed  his 
tone  and  style,  joined  the  assailants  of  Church-discipline, 
and  in  a  Latin  sermon  preached  before  the  London  clergy, 
at  St.  Alphage's,  in  1635,  uttered  such  passages  against 
the  Bishops  and  government  of  the  Church,  that,  Bishop 
Juxon  having  required  a  copy  of  his  notes,  and  he  having 
refused  to  give  it,  he  was  summoned  into  the  Court  of 
High  Commission.  [Laud.  Troubles  and  Trial,  p.  539. 
Rymers  Fwd.  xx.  109.] 

Here  however,  it  is  plain,  even  from  his  own  uncandid 
account,  that  he  met  with  no  extraordinary  severity. 
Having  delivered  up  his  sermon  to  Archbishop  Laud,  the 
primate,  "  after  perusal  of  it,  never  troubled  him  further." 
[Burgess  own  "  Case  of  buying  Bishops'  Lands.''  1659. 
p.  28.]  He  repaid  this  lenity  by  charging  the  whole 
bench  of  Bishops,  according  to  the  approved  mode  of  the 
day,  with  Arminianism  and  Popery ;  and  compared  the 
court,  before  which  he  had  been  summoned,  to  the 
Spanish  Inquisition. 

The  eventful  era  of  the  assembling  of  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment came  on ;  and  Burgess  merits  had  already  raised 
him  to  that  bad  eminence,  which  pointed  him  out  for  a 
token  of  favour  from  the  Low  Churchmen  who  bore  sway 


BURGES.  271 

in  tliat  conclave.  He  was  chosen  with  Stephen  Marshall 
to  preach  on  the  solemn  Fast-day,  which  the  Commons 
had  proclaimed  as  the  initiation  of  their  darker  mysteries. 
His  sermon,  published  by  order  of  the  house,  spoke 
significantly  of  the  destruction  of  Babylon,  "  by  an  army 
from  the  North,"  and  how  the  restoring  of  the  Church  by 
that  deliverance  produced  a  "  solemn  covenant"  with 
God.  (Jer.  1.  3,  5.)  whence  he  went  on  to  argue,  that 
there  would  be  "  no  buckliDg  to  God  s  work,"  till  the 
covenant  was  taken.  He  continued  to  be  appointed  to 
preach  occasionally  before  the  same  audience  in  the 
following  years  of  their  session,  and  had  a  great  hand  in 
promoting  the  convocation  of  the  assembly  of  Divioes  at 
Westminster,  among  whom  he  sat,  and  took  an  active  part 
in  their  proceedings. 

When  the  parliament  wanted  loans  for  putting  down 
the  rebellion  in  Ireland,  and  afterwards  for  the  war  against 
the  King,  Burges  ventured  a  good  part  of  his  fortune  on 
the  faith  of  his  new  masters,  subscribing,  as  he  says,  at 
various  times  about  £1700.  And  now  having  gone  too 
far  to  recede,  he  gave  himself  up  to  serve  the  cause  in  those 
ways  in  which  a  man  of  education,  if  he  will  stoop  to 
them,  will  seldom  fail  of  obtaining  a  temporary  influence. 
When  any  motion  was  on  foot  for  a  treaty  with  the  King, 
he  might  be  seen  leading  on  the  city  mob  to  the  doors  of 
Parliament,  to  intimidate  the  more  moderate  members, 
and  to  take  care  that  the  violent  ones  should  not  be  out- 
voted. His  vanity  is  reported  to  have  betrayed  him  on 
one  occasion  into  a  singular  boast  of  his  power  over  these 
rough-handed  followers  :  "  These,"  he  said,  "  are  my  ban- 
dogs :  I  can  set  them  on,  and  I  can  take  them  off  again." 
[Persecutio  Undecima,  IQiS,  p.  62.] 

But  the  service  of  rebellion  is  hard.  When  Dr.  Hacket, 
afterwards  the  excellent  Bishop  who  restored  Lichfield 
Cathedral,  had  made  his  noble  defence  of  cathedral  insti- 
tutions at  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Commons,  May  11th, 
1641,  Burges,  who  was  employed  to  answer  him,  though 
he  said  much  of  the  unprofitableness  of  deans  and  canons, 


272  BURGES. 

and  the  bad  lives  of  the  song-men  in  the  choir,  had  yet 
agreed  in  asserting  the  Church's  right  to  the  property  to 
be  inviolable.  Time  went  on,  and  he  had  shrewdness 
enough  to  perceive  that  the  credit  of  such  a  government 
as  now  occupied  the  ruins  of  the  monarchy,  though  they 
professed  to  pay  eight  per  cent,  was  not  a  good  basis  of 
security  for  his  loan.  By  their  ordinance  of  November  16, 
1646,  the  Parliament  had  directed  the  sale  of  Bishops' 
lands, —  not  however  to  satisfy  their  old  creditors  so  much 
as  to  obtain  a  new  loan.  They  invited  all  who  had  before 
lent  money,  plate,  or  other  stores,  for  their  use,  to  double 
their  former  contributions,  and  take  these  lands  in  pay- 
ment, "  not  without  intimation,"  as  Burges  says,  "  that 
such  as  doubled  not,  must  expect  no  other  security  than 
the  then  despised  public  faith,  nor  be  paid,  till  all 
Douhlers  were  satisfied."  [Burgess  Case,  dc.  p.  2.]  There 
was  then  this  alternative  proposed  to  him,  to  give  up  his 
scruples  as  to  the  sacred  character  of  the  property,  or  to 
trust  his  friends.  No  one  could  have  had  better  opportu- 
nities of  knowing  his  men ;  and  perhaps  it  is  no  great 
wonder  that  he  chose  to  take  the  manor  of  Wells,  and 
blaspheme  the  memory  of  old  King  Cynewulf  of  Essex, 
who  gave  it  to  God  and  St.  Andrew,  \ih.  p.  20.]  rather 
than  to  wait  till  "the  fag-end  of  the  expired  carcase," 
[Clarendons  elegant  periphrasis  far  a  well  known  mono^ 
syllabic  appellation  of  this  ivonderful  Parliament,]  of  the 
British  constitution  should  be  re-inforced  with  a  resolution 
to  repay  the  sums  which  they  had  spent. 

This  transaction,  and  another,  which  he  effected  about 
the  same  period,  procuring  himself  to  be  appointed  special 
Lecturer  at  St.  Paul  s,  with  a  grant  of  the  dean's  house, 
and  a  modest  salary  of  £400  a  year,  were  exposed  in  a 
passsage  of  delicate  irony  by  the  quaint  and  honest 
Thomas  Fuller:  it  is  in  the  conclusion  of  his  History, 
where  he  has  been  recording  the  debate  between  Hacket 
and  Burges,  and  how  the  latter  had  spoken  of  the  inviola- 
bility of  cathedral  lands : 

"  If  since  this  time,"  he  says,  "Dr.  Burges  hath  been 


BURGES.  273 

a  large  purchaser  of  such  lands  himself, — if,  since, 
St.  Andrew  the  first-converted,  and  St.  Paul  the  last-con- 
verted, Apostle,  have  met  in  his  purse, — I  doubt  not  but 
that  he  can  give  sufficient  reason  for  the  same,  both  to 
himself  and  other  that  shall  question  him  thereon  ;  the 
rather  because  lately  he  read  learned  lectures  in  St.  Paul's 
on  the  criticisms  of  conscience,  no  less  carefully  than 
curiously  weighing  satisfaction  to  scruples ;  and  if  there 
be  a  fault,  so  able  a  confessor  knows  how  to  get  his  abso- 
lution." This  passage,  being  noticed  by  Burges  in  his 
'  Case  of  buying  Bishop's  Lands,'  occasioned  an  admirable 
letter  of  Fuller's  to  him,  which  may  be  seen,  with  a  good 
note  of  the  last  editor,  in  Nichols's  edition  of  Fuller's 
Church  History,  vol.  iii.  Burges  made  a  lame  answer  in 
his  *  No  Sacrilege  nor  Sin  to  alienate  Cathedral  Lands,' 
p.  54,  5. 

There  is  often  found  a  litigious  restless  temper,  accom- 
panying ill-gotten  gains;  as  the  raven  cannot  swallow 
its  prey  without  a  noise.  Burges  could  find  little 
quiet  in  his  new  possessions.  The  corporation  of  Wells 
and  he  were  at  once  embroiled  in  a  protracted  lawsuit, 
about  some  debateable  ground,  the  undoubted  property  of 
the  Church,  but  now  disputed,  because  part  was  pur- 
chased by  himself,  and  part  by  the  town-council.  Burges 
gives  a  long  detail  of  the  arbitrations,  trials,  and  judg- 
ments, which  his  claim  had  to  go  through,  with  a  wonder- 
ful blindness  to  the  fact  how  plainly  the  story  tells  against 
himself.  The  courts  of  law  under  the  Protectorate  having 
dexiided  for  the  corporation,  he  had  recourse  to  an  autho- 
rity, which  probably  might  be  found  in  those  days 
stronger  than  the  law,  the  arbitration  of  the  great  Lord 
Desborough,  Cromwell's  Major-General  of  Somerset  and 
other  western  counties.  This  mighty  "  clown,  without 
fear  or  wit,"  (as  the  pamphleteers  describe  him,)  was  not 
unwilling  to  interpose  ;  but  the  parties  not  agreeing  as  to 
the  questions  to  be  referred  to  him,  that  expedient  also 
failed.  Things  were  still  unbalanced,  when  Oliver  died. 
2  z  ^ 


274  BURGES. 

Richard  Cromwell's  Parliament  met,  and  Burges  proposed 
his  '  Case'  to  lay  before  them.  He  had  evidently  singular 
hopes,  like  other  Presbyterians,  from  the  accession  of  the 
young  man,  whom  he  complimented,  as  the  Romans  did 
the  Emperor  Titus,  with  the  title  of  "  the  darling  of  the 
English  people,"  (gentis  Anglicanae  deliciae.)  Bradshawe 
the  regicide  was  then  a  great  man  again,  being  President 
of  Richard's  Council ;  and  to  him  Burges  sent  a  copy  of 
his  pamphlet,  "  ex  dono  authoris."  But  in  this  nick  of 
time  Bradshawe  died,  and  the  reign  of  Richard  soon  after 
came  to  an  end,  while  the  suit  was  as  far  from  being  set- 
tled as  ever. 

The  name  of  this  unhappy  man  had  long  since  become 
a  proverb  of  reproach  among  more  parties  than  one.  He 
was  accused  in  the  pasquils  of  the  time  with  having  taken 
up  the  pavement  of  St.  Paul's  to  flag  his  kitchen,  with 
having  sold  the  timber- work  and  carved  stones  ;  and  hints 
were  given  of  other  breaches  of  the  moral  law.  [Lamenta- 
tion of  the  hay  Elders,  1647.  Case  for  the  City  Spectacles, 
1648,  dc.']  Yet  it  would  seem  that  virtue  still  struggled 
within  him,  and  at  least  held  him  back  from  consenting 
to  the  bolder  crimes  of  that  troubled  period.  When  the 
Independents  and  Cromwell  had  determined  on  the  King's 
murder,  though  he  had  not  the  courage  to  put  his  name 
to  the  '  Serious  and  Faithful  Representation'  presented  by 
the  forty-seven  Presbyterian  ministers  to  General  Fairfax, 
[Collier,  ii.  859,  60.]  he  afterwards  drew  up  the  'Vindica- 
tion of  the  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  in  and  about  London,' 
a  more  equivocal  document,  professing  the  same  object, 
but  so  worded  as  if  to  exculpate  themselves,  rather  than 
to  save  the  King.  It  would  seem  that  he  also  delivered 
another  testimony  against  King-killing,  in  a  sermon  enti' 
tied  'Prudent  Silence,'  preached  in  Mercer's  Chapel  before 
the  Lord  Mayor  and  City  Council,  on  Jan.  14,  1649,  from 
the  text  Amos,  v.  13.  This  sermon  he  now  published, 
when  the  Restoration  was  at  hand,  in  1660,  and  prefixed 
to  it  a  dedication  to  Charles  the  Second. 


BURGES.  257 

There  was  now,  however,  a  nearer  danger  that  beset 
him,  for  which  it  was  expedient,  if  he  could,  to  remove  the 
suspicion  of  disloyalty.  Things  were  evidently  tending  to 
a  re-estabhshment  of  episcopacy  ;  and  a  strong  effort  must 
be  made  to  prevent  all  that  he  had  acquired  from  being 
lost.  To  do  him  justice,  though  he  was  now  become  a 
man  in  years,  he  set  to  work  with  an  industry  worthy  of  a 
better  cause.  To  maintain  the  temporal  part  of  the  ques- 
tion, he  drew  up  his  '  No  Sacrilege  nor  Sin  to  alienate  or 
purchase  Cathedral  Lands,'  a  more  elaborate  exposition  of 
the  argument  of  his  '  Case  ;'  but  omitting  all  mention  of 
poor  Pilchard,  and  the  history  of  the  law- suit.  It  is  full  of 
learning,  and  not  without  that  ingenious  kind  of  logic, 
which  is  sometimes  employed  to  perplex  a  plain  cause, 
with  all  the  special  pleading  of  a  self-interested  advocate. 
This  pamphlet  was  no  doubt  busily  circulated  by  those 
subalterns  of  the  rebellion,  such  as  Sir  Arthur  Haselrigge 
and  Colonel  Harvey,  who  had  the  same  kind  of  property 
at  stake ;  and  three  editions  are  said  to  have  been  called 
for.  Another  pamphlet  was  however  wanted  to  meet  the 
more  spiritual  peril  which  threatened  him,  in  the  proposed 
restoration  of  the  Prayer- Book,  and  all  that  its  restoration 
involved.  Against  this  measure  he  now  put  forth  his 
'Reasons,  shewing  the  necessity  of  Reformation  of  the 
Public  Doctrine,  "Worship,  Rites  and  Ceremonies,  Church 
Govermnent  and  Discipline,  reputed  to  be,  but  indeed 
not,  estabhshed  by  Law.'  This  pamphlet  was  addressed 
to  the  parliament  which  met  after  the  King's  return,  and 
purported  in  the  title-page  to  be  *  by  sundry  Ministers  in 
divers  Counties.'  Baxter  however  states  that  it  was  the 
work  of  Burges  alone ;  [Baxters  Life.,  ii.  265.]  and  that 
it  was  so  is  tolerably  clear  from  internal  evidence.  A  vein 
of  buffoonery  pervades  it  to  the  injury  of  his  argument ; 
as  is  the  case  in  other  of  his  pamphlets.  He  declares 
against  all  instrumental  music  in  churches ;  which  is 
consistent  with  what  he  had  done  in  abolishing  the 
organ  at  St.  Paul's ;  he  attacks  the  same  opponents, 
Dr.  Heylin  and  Gauden,  as  he  had  done  in  his  '  Case  ;' 


276  BUEGES. 

and  he  shews  the  same  superficial  views  of  history  and 
antiquities,  for  which  Fuller  had  before  exposed  him. 

This  pamphlet  was  in  fact,  as  Baxter  seems  to  have  felt 
it,  very  disadvantageous  to  the  Presbyterian  cause.  Its 
tone  was  so  bitter  and  offensive,  that  it  took  away  the 
hope  of  peace  between  the  two  parties  ;  it  was  considered 
disrespectful  to  the  court,  where  schemes  of  reconciliation 
were  then  favourably  entertained  ;  and,  what  was  perhaps 
still  worse  for  its  credit,  the  portion  of  it,  which  had  as- 
sailed the  doctrine  of  the  Prayer-Book,  was  answered  in  a 
grave  convincing  style  by  one  of  the  best  divines  of  the 
episcopal  side,  Dr.  John  Pearson,  the  expositor  of  the 
Creed,  and  afterwards  Bishop  of  Chester.  ['No  Necessity 
of  Reformation  of  the  Public  Doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
England,'  Uo.  1660.]  Burges  attempted  a  reply  in  a 
postscript  to  a  third  edition  of  his  '  No  Sacrilege;'  but  this 
was  immediately  noticed  in  an  '  Answer  to  Dr.  Burges 's 
Word  by  way  of  Postscript,'  by  Pearson ;  and  the  contro- 
versy went  no  further. 

No  doubt  the  time  was  past,  when  the  English  people 
could  be  deceived  by  those  pretences,  which  had  led  to 
confusion  alike  of  Church  and  state.  The  restitution  of 
the  Church's  spoils  was  no  longer  to  be  delayed  by  men, 
who  had  too  long  covered  under  a  shew  of  public  zeal 
their  singular  kindness  to  themselves.  The  purchasers  of 
Bishop's  lands,  by  Burges'  advice  as  it  was  supposed,  put 
forth  an  anonymous  paper,  proposing  to  pay  £500,000  to 
the  I^ng,  if  they  might  have  their  illegal  bargain  con- 
firmed for  ninety-nine  years  by  the  legislature ;  but,  this 
bribe  being  rejected,  there  was  no  remedy  but  to  give  up 
what  could  no  longer  be  retained.  Burges  appears  to 
have  saved  nothing  from  so  many  years'  tenure  of  the 
property,  which  he  had  so  sacrilegiously  invaded.  Having 
lost  all,  he  retired  in  poverty  and  shame  to  die  at  Watford, 
the  scene  of  his  early  pastoral  labours,  while  he  was  yet 
unseduced  by  low  ambition.  It  may  be  hoped  that  even 
these  days  of  bitter  privation  were  better  for  him,  than  the 
years  of  dangerous  prosperity,  in  which  his  vanity  and 


BURGESS.  277 

self-love  had  robbed  him  of  all  peace.  For  it  can  scarcely 
be  doubted,  that  all  that  time  he  was  stifling  the  stings 
of  conscience,  and  his  mind  approved  the  virtue  he 
forsook  : 

And  oh,  how  sharp  the  pain, 
Our  vice,  ourselves,  our  hahits  to  disdain ; 
To  go  where  never  yet  in  peace  we  went. 
To  feel  our  hearts  can  bleed,  yet  not  relent ; 
To  sigh,  yet  not  recede ;   to  grieve,  yet  not  repent ! 

His  latter  davs  were  past,  it  is  said,  in  exercises  of 
penitence,  and  in  observing  the  duties  of  the  Church. 
But  his  sufferings  were  extreme.  His  neck  and  one 
cheek  were  eaten  away  with  a  cancer ;  and,  after  having 
sold  his  books  to  buy  bread,  he  was  again  in  want.  He 
applied  to  Sir  Pdchard  Browne,  a  rich  citizen  in  London, 
acquainting  him  with  his  condition ;  but  obtained  a 
scornful  answer,  reminding  him  of  his  old  preaching  of 
rebellion,  and  a  scanty  donation  of  three  pounds.  He 
died,  unnoticed  and  deserted,  in  June,  1G65.  About 
three  months  before  his  death  he  sent  a  humble  and  duti- 
ful message  to  the  university  of  Oxford,  with  a  collection 
of  some  scarce  editions  of  the  Prayer-Book,  begging  his 
honourable  mother  of  Oxford  to  accept  of  them  from  a 
dying  man,  '  as  our  Lord  and  blessed  Saviour  did  of  the 
poor  ^vidow's  two  mites,  who,  by  casting  in  that,  cast  in  all 
she  had." — Dr.  Isaac  Basires  Sacrilege  Arraigned.  Wood's 
Athence  Oxonienses. 


BUEGESS,    DANIEL. 

Dan'iel  Buegess  was  born  at  Staines,  in  1645.  He 
received  his  education  at  Westminster-school,  from  whence 
he  went  to  Magdalen  Hall,  Oxford,  but  having  imbibed 
puritanical  principles,  he  left  the  university  without  a 
degree.  In  1667  he  became  master  of  a  school  at 
Charleville  in  Ireland,  after  which  he  was  ordained  in  the 


278  BURKITT. 

Presbyterian  way  at  Dublin,  and  married.  x\t  the  end  of 
seven  years  he  returned  to  England,  and  in  1685  settled 
in  London,  as  preacher  to  a  congregation  in  Brydges- 
street,  Covent-garden,  from  whence  he  removed  to  a 
meeting  in  Carey-street,  which,  being  pulled  down  by 
Dr.  Sacheverell's  mob,  was  rebuilt  at  the  expense  of 
government.  Daniel  died  in  1713.  The  celebrated  Lord 
Bolingbroke  was  once  his  pupil,  and  acquired  his  disgust 
of  Christianity  from  what  he  witnessed  of  the  morality 
of  puritanism.  His  humour  in  the  pulpit  was  of  the 
lowest  cast  of  buffoonery,  but  it  had  the  effect  of  drawing 
crowds  of  hearers.  The  following  is  a  specimen  of  his 
preaching  on  the  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness, 
"  If  any  of  you,"  said  he,  "  would  have  a  good  and  cheap 
suit,  you  will  go  to  Monmouth-street ;  if  you  want  a  suit 
that  will  last  for  life,  you  must  go  to  the  Court  of  Chan- 
cery ;  but  if  you  wish  for  a  suit  of  everlasting  duration, 
you  must  go  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  put  on  his  robe  of 
righteousness."  He  published  some  single  sermons,  one 
of  which  was  entitled  "The  Golden  Snuffers." — Gen. 
Biog.  Diet. 

BUKKITT,    WILLIA^r. 

WiLLiAisr  BuRKiTT  was  born  at  Hitcham,  in  Suffolk,  in 
1650.  His  father  was  a  Nonconformist  minister.  He  was 
sent  first  to  a  school  at  Stow  Market,  and  from  thence  to 
another  at  Cambridge.  He  was  admitted  of  Pembroke 
Hall,  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  and  upon  his  removal 
from  the  University,  when  he  had  taken  his  degree,  he  be- 
came a  chaplain  in  a  private  gentleman's  family,  where  he 
continued  for  several  years.  He  was  ordained  by  Bishop 
Pteynolds,  and  the  first  clerical  duty  which  he  had  was  at 
Milden,  in  Suffolk,  where  he  continued  for  twenty- one 
years,  first  as  curate,  and  afterwards  as  rector  of  that 
parish.  In  1692  he  was  presented  to  the  vicarage  of 
Dedham,  in  Essex,  where  he  continued  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  which  happened  in  the  latter  end  of  October, 


BUEN.  279 

1703.  He  made  liberal  collections  for  the  FreDch  Pro- 
testants in  the  years  1687,  &c.,  and  by  his  influence  pro- 
cured a  minister  to  go  and  settle  in  Carolina.  Among 
other  charities,  he  bequeathed  by  his  last  will  and  testa- 
ment the  house  in  which  he  lived,  with  the  lands  belonging 
to  it,  to  be  a  residence  for  the  lecturer  that  should  be 
chosen  from  time  to  time  to  preach  the  lecture  at 
Dedham.  He  wrote  several  small  tracts,  and  published 
a  commentary  on  the  New  Testament,  which  has  been 
popular. — Life  by  Parkhurst. 


BUKN,    EICHAP.D. 

Richard  Burn  was  born  at  Kirby  Stephen,  near 
Winton,  in  Westmoreland,  He  entered  at  Queen's  College, 
Oxford,  and  received  from  that  University,  in  1762,  the 
honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  The  following  year 
he  entered  into  holy  orders,  and  was  appointed  to  the 
living  of  Orton,  in  Westmoreland.  He  also  held  the 
commission  of  the  peace  for  Westmoreland  and  Cumber- 
land, and  was  chancellor  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle.  As 
compiler  of  the  Justice  of  the  Peace,  he  is  well  known,  and 
he  has  earned  for  himself  equal  celebrity  by  a  similar 
digest  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Law.  The  first  of  these  is  an 
alphabetical  arrangement  of  the  common  law  and  statutes, 
pointing  out  the  duties  of  magistrates  and  parish  officers  ; 
and  the  second  comprehends  the  English  system  of  eccle- 
siastical law,  arranged  in  the  same  manner.  They  deserv- 
edly gained  a  high  reputation  as  works  of  great  practical 
utility.  In  conjunction  with  Mr.  Nicholson,  nephew  of 
the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  Dr.  Bum  compiled  a  history  of  the 
antiquities  of  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland,  published 
in  1777,  in  2  vols,  4to.  He  also  published  an  edition  of 
"Blackstone's  Commentaries,"  and  some  theological  works. 
Dr.  Burn  enjoyed  the  rectorship  of  Orton  for  forty-nine 
years,  where  he  died,  20th  Novenber,  1789. — History  of 
Westmoreland.     Bridgmans  Legal  Bibliography. 


'280  BURNET. 


BUENET,  ALEXANDER. 

Alexander  Burnet  was  the  son  of  the  Eev.  John 
Burnet,  a  parochial  minister,  and  one  of  the  respectable 
family  of  Bams,  in  the  county  of  Peebles  :  his  mother  was 
a  daughter  of  the  family  of  Traquair.  He  was  born  in 
the  year  1614,  and  was  first  appointed  chaplain  to  the  Earl 
of  Traquair,  but  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion,  he 
retired  into  England,  where  he  received  holy  orders,  and 
was  presented  to  a  rectory  in  Kent,  from  which  he  was 
ejected  on  account  of  his  loyalty,  in  the  year  1650.  After 
this  he  went  abroad,  and  was  of  considerable  service  to 
Charles  II,  in  procuring  intelligence  from  his  friends  in 
England  and  Scotland.  At  the  Restoration  he  became 
chaplain  to  the  Earl  of  Teviot,  his  cousin,  who  was  ap- 
pointed governor  of  Dunkirk,  whither  Burnet  accompanied 
him,  and  where  he  officiated  in  an  English  congregation. 
He  was  consecrated  to  the  see  of  Aberdeen  in  1663,  and 
in  the  following  year  was  translated  to  the  archbishopric 
of  Glasgow.  Here  he  was  brought  into  trouble,  but  under 
circumstances  most  creditable  to  himself.  He  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  the  Earl  of  Lauderdale,  whom  no  one 
ever  offended  with  impunity.  This  nobleman  was  pro- 
fessedly a  Presbyterian,  and  almost  as  great  an  enemy  to 
the  Episcopalians  as  he  was  to  the  Covenanters.  It  has 
even  been  alleged,  and  with  some  appearance  of  truth, 
that  one  of  the  reasons  of  his  extreme  cruelty  to  the  lat- 
ter, was  to  excite  popular  odium  against  the  former.  If 
such  were  his  object,  he  certainly  succeeded.  His  speech 
to  Sharp,  when  he  learnt  he  was  to  be  made  Archbishop 
of  St.  Andrews,  is  well  known.  "  Mr.  Sharp,"  he  said, 
"  bishops  you  are  to  have  in  Scotland,  and  you,  I  hear, 
are  to  be  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews  ;  but,  whoever  shall 
be  the  man,  I  will  smite  him  and  his  order  under  the 
fifth  rib."     And  he  was  as  good  as  his  word. 

Burnet  had  complained  to  the  King  of  Lauderdale's  un- 
necessary severity  to  the  Covenanters,  and  recommended 


BUKNET.  281 

more  lenient  measures.  The  King,  who  was  naturally 
good-natured,  approved  of  this  recommendation,  and 
gave  the  Earl  instructions  to  proceed  in  conformity 
with  it.  For  this  interference  on  the  part  of  the  Arch- 
bishop, and  with  a  view  to  gratify  his  spleen  against  him, 
he  determined  to  make  the  whole  Episcopal  order  feel  the 
weight  of  his  vengeance,  and  to  stab  them  "under  the 
fifth  rib."  Accordingly,  he  introduced  into  parliament, 
in  the  year  1669,  the  famous  act  of  Indulgence,  the  mean- 
ing of  which  was,  that  ministers  dissenting  from  the 
established  church  might  be  permitted  to  hold  benefices 
in  it,  without,  in  any  respect,  acknowledging  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  its  Bishops.  In  short,  like  the  Roman  Catholic 
doctrine  which  passes  under  that  name,  it  gave  a  license 
to  practise  every  kind  of  ecclesiastical  irregularity  without 
any  fear  of  suffe.ing.  Such  a  system,  it  was  apparent,  no 
established  church  could  approve,  under  any  circum- 
stances :  yet  Lauderdale  had  the  address  to  persuade  both 
the  King  and  the  Parliament,  that  it  was  necessary  for 
the  tranquillity  of  the  kingdom.  The  more  violent  Co- 
venanters repudiated  the  notion  of  accepting  any  religious 
favour  whatever  from  Charles's  government ;  and  railed 
very  bitterly  against  those  who  took  the  Indulgence,  even 
on  terms  where  all  the  advantage  lay  with  themselves, 
and  all  the  disadvantage  with  their  opponents  ;  but  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  more  moderate  Presbyterians 
availed  themselves  of  it ;  and,  among  others,  Mr.  Robert 
Douglas,  who  had,  since  the  Restoration,  joined  the  Epis- 
copal church,  in  obedience  to  the  laws,  as  a  private  indi- 
vidual, but  was  now  admitted  as  Presbyterian  minister  of 
the  parish  of  Pencaithland. 

Burnet,  and  the  clergy  of  his  diocese,  took  the  lead  in 
their  opposition  to  this  mischievous  measure  ;  which  was 
so  far  from  being  a  healing  one,  as  it  professed  to  be,  that 
it  split  the  established  church  into  two  hostile  parties, 
and  made  the  minority  independent  of  the  majority.  This 
opposition  to  his  own  act  so  provoked  Lauderdale,  that  he 

VOL.  III.  2  B 


r2B2  BURNET. 

brought  into  parliament,  and  carried,  a  still  more  offensive 
and  oppressive  one,  namely,  the  Assertory  Act,  which  con- 
ferred on  the  King  the  exclusive  power  to  change,  at  his 
pleasure,  "  the  external  government  and  polity  of  the 
(Jhurch"  in  Scotland.  The  whole  of  the  Bishops  united 
in  strenuous  opposition  to  this  measure,  which,  however, 
did  not  prevent  the  King  from  so  far  acting  upon  it,  as, 
at  the  instigation  of  Lauderdale,  to  suspend  Archbishop 
Burnet,  and  place  Leighton  Bishop  of  Dunblane  in  his 
room.  This  most  obnoxious  bill  was  repealed,  after  it  had 
been  in  operation  two  years ;  but  not  before  several  of  the 
Bishops  and  clergy  had  suffered  by  their  conscientious 
refusal  to  comply  with  it.  Burnet  was  not  restored  to  his 
archbishopric  till  the  year  1674.  Wodrow,  for  this  con- 
duct on  the  part  of  Burnet,  accuses  him,  first,  of  acting 
contrary  to  his  ''passive  obedience"  principles,  and  then 
of  tamely  submitting  to  the  royal  sentence  of  ecclesiastical 
deprivation.  It  is  very  difficult  to  make  writers  of  that 
school  comprehend  the  simple  scriptural,  though  un- 
fashionable and  unpalatable,  doctrine  of  what  is  called 
(improperly,  perhaps,)  "  passive  obedience."  Burnet,  on 
this  occasion,  acted  in  strict  conformity  with  it ;  that  is, 
he  dutifully  obeyed  the  lawful  commands  of  his  Sove- 
reign, and  he  patiently  suffered  for  disobeying  his  unlaw- 
ful ones.  The  Presbyterians  of  that  age  did  neither  one 
nor  the  other.  So  far  from  dutifully  obeying  all  lawful 
commands,  they  would  not  obey  even  the  most  indifferent, 
if  unsuited  to  their  taste  :  and  so  far  from  patiently  suf- 
fering for  their  disobedience  to  unlawful  commands,  (or 
those  which  they  considered  to  be  so,)  that  they  took  up 
arms  to  force  the  government  to  rescind  them. 

On  the  murder  of  Archbishop  Sharp  in  1679,  he  was 
translated  to  the  see  of  St.  Andrews. 

Archbishop  Burnet  died  on  the  24th  of  August,  1684, 
and  was  buried  in  St.  Salvator's  church. — KeitJis  Scottish 
Bishops.    Lyon's  History  of  St.  Andrews. 


BURNET.  ^483 


BURNET,    GILBERT. 


Gilbert  Burnet  was  bom  at  Edinburgh  on  the  ]  8th  of 
September,  1643.  His  father  was  a  lawyer,  whom  many 
agreed  to  praise  and  few  to  employ :  he  was  at  first  opposed 
to  the  Scottish  Bishops,  but  when  he  saw  that  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  episcopal  order  was  what  those  designed  who 
spoke  of  its  reformation,  he  adhered  to  the  order  with 
zeal  and  constancy.  His  mother  was  a  sister  of  Sir  Archi- 
bald Warriston,  and  a  bigoted  Presbyteiian.  Of  her  Presby- 
terian spirit  an  account  is  given  when  Burnet  was  on  one 
occasion  seized  with  a  fever  at  Saltoun  where  she  resided 
with  him ;  in  the  ravings  of  his  distemper  he  thought  that 
Archbishop  Sharp  was  to  sleep  at  his  house,  and  testified 
anxiety  about  a  proper  place  for  his  reception.  Upon  this 
his  Presbyterian  mother  desired  him  to  make  himself 
quite  easy,  for  that  a  place  should  be   provided   for  the 

Archbishop in  the  hottest  corner  of  hell.     How  dreadful 

is  such  want  of  charity  in  a  person  who  thought  herself 
decidedly  pious.  Such  was  the  parentage  of  Gilbert 
Burnet,  and  the  kind  of  religious  education  he  received 
from  such  parents  may  be  easily  surmised.  He  grew  up  an 
earnest  minded,  honest  hearted  man,  disinterested,  liberal 
and  learned  :  but  he  was  an  egotist  who,  conscious  of  his 
own  rectitude  of  intention,  could  not  believe  any  person  to 
be  honest  who  thought  not  or  acted  not  as  he  did  himself, 
who  hated  with  an  ungenerous  hatred  all  who  opposed 
him,  who,  looking  upon  himself  as  an  angel,  expected  to 
see  the  cloven  foot  in  every  opponent :  and  who,  as  such 
egotists  frequently  do,  so  entirely  identified  himself  with  a 
party,  that  he  felt  a  personal  disgust  for  every  one  who 
either  wronged  that  party  or  deserted  it,  or  advocated  prin- 
ciples not  acknowledged  by  it.  Never  did  man  so  com- 
pletely identify  himself  with  his  party  ;  he  did  indeed 
sacrifice  for  it  so  much,  that  he  would  have  become  enti- 
tled to  the  character  of  generous,  had  not  his  conduct 
towards  those  who  opposed  his  party  been  ungenerous  in 
the  extreme,   though  even  then,   when  their  sufferings  be- 


284  BURNET. 

came  personally  known  to  him,  the  generosity  of  his 
nature  would  sometimes  display  itself. 

To  give  an  account  of  such  a  person  would  be  at  all 
times  difficult,  but  it  is  rendered  the  more  difficult  from 
the  fact  that  he  is  himself  our  only  authority,  either  in  the 
History  he  wrote  of  his  Own  Times,  which  is  an  eulogy  of 
himself  and  a  satire  upon  those  who  differed  from  him, 
or  in  the  Memoirs  of  his  Life,  written  by  his  son  Sir 
Thomas  Burnet,  almost,  we  may  conclude,  from  his  father's 
dictation. 

Burnet's  father,  having  suffered  some  persecution  dur- 
ing the  rebellion,  lived  retired  in  the  country  on  his  own 
estate  till  the  Restoration,  when  he  was  made  one  of  the 
Lords  of  Session.  His  father  superintended  his  education, 
and  afterwards  sent  him  to  King's  College,  Aberdeen, 
where  he  took  his  degree  of  M.A.  at  the  early  age  of  four- 
teen. He  commenced  the  study  of  civil  law,  but  feeling  a 
distaste  for  it,  he  had  recourse  to  the  study  of  divinity. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  was  put  on  trial  as  a  proba- 
tioner, which  was  at  that  time  the  first  step  towards  ordi- 
nation in  the  Episcopal  church.  Probationers  were  then 
appointed  to  preach  practically  on  an  assigned  text ;  next, 
critically  on  another  controverted  one  ;  and  then  a  mixed 
sermon  of  criticism  and  practical  inferences  from  a  given 
text.  Then  followed  an  examination  in  the  languages; 
and  lastly,  the  "  questionary  trial,"  in  which  every  minister 
present  might  put  such  questions,  from  Scripture  or 
divinity,  as  he  pleased.  He  declined  the  offer  of  a 
church,  and  prosecuted  his  studies  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  Nairn. 

Of  Mr.  Nairn  he  learnt  the  art  of  preaching  extempore : 
this  was  not  the  custom  of  the  Presbyterians,  whose  ser- 
mons, though  they  were  delivered  without  book,  were  pre- 
meditated discourses,  first  written,  and  then  learned  by 
heart, — a  sheer  waste  of  time.  The  power  of  preaching 
extempore  was  retained  by  Burnet  through  life.  He  studied 
under  Mr.  Nairn,  Smith's  select  discourses,  Dr.  More's 
works,    and    the    judicious  Hooker.      With  Archbishop 


BURNET.  S86 

Leighton,  Burnet  also  formed  an  acquaintance,  and  by  his 
advice  studied  the  primitive  fathers,  especially  those  of  the 
three  first  centuries,  and  Binnius's  collection  of  councils, 
down  to  the  second  council  of  Nice. 

In  1663  he  visited  England,  and  went  to  Oxford  and 
Cambridge.  From  Oxford,  where  he  contracted  a  friend- 
ship with  Drs.  Fell  and  Pocock,  he  went  to  London,  and 
was  introduced  to  Mr.  Boyle,  Tillotson,  Stillingfleet, 
Patrick,  Lloyd,  and  Sir  Robert  Murray.  In  1664  he 
returned  to  Scotland,  whence  he  went  to  Holland ;  and, 
passing  through  the  Netherlands  to  France,  made  some 
stay  at  Paris.  In  1665  he  returned  to  Scotland  through 
London,  and  was  there  made  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Society.  On  his  return,  in  1665,  he  was  ordained  a 
priest  by  Dr.  Wiseheart,  then  Bishop  of  Edinburgh,  and 
presented  to  the  parish  of  Saltoun,  by  Sir  Robert  Fletcher. 
Although  extempore  worship  was  then  practised,  Burnet 
used  the  English  Liturgy  all  the  time  he  held  the  living 
of  Saltoun,  where  he  seems,  according  to  his  own  account, 
to  have  been  very  diligent  in  the  duties  of  his  profession, 
and  to  have  gained  the  respect  of  his  parishioners.  He 
had  scarcely  entered  upon  his  parochial  duties,  when  he 
published  a  most  malicious  libel  upon  the  Scottish  Bishops, 
which  he  confuted  afterwards  in  his  life  of  Bishop  Bedell, 
and  which  we  must  therefore  ascribe  to  some  mortifica- 
tion that  he  had  experienced.  He  was  summoned  before 
the  bench,  and  severely  reprimanded;  which  may,  per- 
haps, account  for  the  severity  of  his  strictures  in  the  His- 
tory of  his  Own  Times.  The  libeller  who,  by  the  account 
given  by  himself,  was  as  insolent  to  the  Bishops  as  he  well 
could  be,  w^as  soon  takea  into  favour  by  the  enemies  open 
or  concealed  of  episcopacy  ;  and  young  as  he  was,  in  1668, 
Burnet  seems  to  have  been  consulted  by  the  government, 
especially  by  his  friend,  Sir  Robert  Murray,  then  president 
of  the  court  of  session ;  and  it  is  suspected  that  he  advised 
the  Indulgence  and  the  introduction  of  the  moderate  Pres- 
byterians into  vacant  livings,   without  requiring  them  to 


286  BURNET. 

submit  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop.  (See  tJie  last  arti- 
cle on  Archhisliop  Burnet.)  All  this  part  of  Burnet's  life  is 
necessarily  involved  in  obscurity  :  it  is  obvious  that  he  be- 
haved extremely  ill,  and  he  was  not  the  person  to  condemn 
himself.  Nevertheless,  the  regularity  of  his  life,  his  learn- 
ing, and  his  talents,  commended  him  to  those  who  were 
not  unwilling  to  hear  the  clergy  censured,  even  though 
unjustly,  and  to  an  unprincipled  government  willing  to 
employ  a  young  man  who  would  do  their  work,  but  whom 
they  might,  whenever  it  was  convenient,  repudiate.  In 
1669  he  was  invited  to  visit  the  Duchess  of  Hamilton,  who, 
"  though  her  inclinations  lay  to  presbytery,  professed  her- 
self a  friend  to  moderate  counsels,"  and  at  her  house  he 
met  the  Regent  of  the  University  at  Glasgow,  and  through 
him  he  obtained  the  professorship  of  divinity  in  that  uni- 
versity. Bumet  represents  himself  as  in  doubt  whether 
to  accept  the  office  of  the  divinity  chair  or  to  remain  at 
Saltoun,  but  the  professorship  was  a  situation  so  much  in 
accordance  with  his  tastes  and  pursuits  that  he  was  doubt- 
less very  easily  persuaded  to  enter  upon  its  duties.  That 
he  gave  great  dissatisfaction  is  clear  from  his  own  account, 
and  not  to  be  wondered  at  when  we  take  into  considera- 
tion that  to  an  overbearing  temper,  and  an  offensive  self- 
sufficiency,  he  added,  according  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  "  a 
boisterous  vehement  manner  of  expressing  himself."  But 
Burnet  could  never  admit  that  he  was  in  the  wrong,  and 
attributed  his  failure  to  those  principles  of  moderation  on 
which  he  professed  to  act,  and  by  which  he  equally  of- 
ended  the  Episcopal  and  the  Presbyterian  party.  But 
here,  as  elsewhere,  what  he  did  he  did  with  all  his  might, 
and  if  his  conduct  was  not  judicious,  it  was  at  least  ener- 
getic. Here  he  remained  for  four  years  and  a  half.  In 
1669  he  published  his  Modest  and  Free  Conference 
between  a  Conformist  and  a  Non- Conformist,  in  seven 
dialogues,  with  which  all  men  who  were  in  earnest,  either 
Episcopalians  or  Presbyterians,  were  justly  offended,  but 
which  gave  satisfaction  to  those  whom  Burnet  desired  to 


BURNET.  287 

please,  the  men  who  cared  for  none  of  these  things.  It 
ought  to  be  observed  here  that  Burnet's  inclinations  were 
all  along  decidedly  in  favour  of  episcopacy  and  the  liturgy, 
and  one  cause  of  his  hatred  to  the  Scottish  Bishops  and 
clergy  was  their  not  permitting  him  to  defend  them  in 
his  own  way,  yielding  when  he  desired  them  to  yield, 
and  conforming  to  what  he  considered  the  proper  line  of 
conduct.  He  regarded  them  as  fools,  and  worse  than  fooJs, 
because  when  he  wished  to  put  himself  forward  as  their 
leader,  they  w^ould  not  accept  him,  and  because  when  he 
talked  of  moderation  they  supposed  him  to  speak  of  a 
dereliction  of  principle. 

During  his  residence  in  Glasgow  he  was  entrusted  with 
the  papers  belonging  to  the  Hamilton  family,  from  which 
he  compiled  the  memoirs  of  that  house ;  and  afterwards 
meditated  a  reconciliation  between  the  Dukes  of  Hamilton 
and  Lauderdale.  The  Earl  of  Lauderdale,  whom  he 
vtsited  in  London,  could  have  pushed  his  fortunes,  had 
Burnet  consented  to  be  one  of  his  followers,  but  Burnet 
was  of  too  imperious  a  temper  himself  to  submit  to  the 
imperious  temper  of  that  iniquitous  nobleman,  and  we 
may  add,  that  he  was  of  too  independent  a  spirit,  and  too 
high  a  cast  of  mind  to  endeavour  to  establish  an  interest 
at  court.  His  favour,  however,  with  the  great  was  such, 
that  while  in  London  he  was  offered  a  bishopric  in  Scot- 
land. He  declined  it,  because,  as  his  son  states,  he 
thought  himself  of  an  unfit  age,  and  that  this  was  one 
reason  we  can  readily  believe ;  Burnet  would  not  accept 
an  office  for  the  duties  of  which  he  felt  himself  to  be 
incompetent  ;  and  that  an  earnest-minded  man  should 
shrink  from  the  responsibilities  of  a  Scottish  bishopric  at 
that  time  is  not  wonderful.  But  other  reasons  certainly 
operated  in  his  mind ;  he  was  now  connected  with 
moderate  Presbyterians  :  they  received  him  as  a  moderate 
Episcopalian  :  such  a  position  was  more  flattering  to  the 
self-complacency  of  a  man  of  Burnet's  character,  than  a 
bishopric,  for  as  a  Bishop  he  must  either  connect  himself 
entirely  with  Church  principles,  or  become  despicable.  He 


288  BURNET. 

was  not  prepared  for  either  alternative.  Besides,  he  was 
now  engaged  to  be  married  to  a  Presbyterian  lady,  and  it 
would  not  be  seemly  for  such  a  person  to  be  a  Bishop's 
wife,  even  if  she  could  have  consented  to  the  marriage. 
His  marriage  took  place  soon  after  his  return  to  Glasgow, 
with  the  Lady  Margaret  Kennedy,  daughter  of  the  Earl 
of  Cassillis.  In  1672  he  came  out  in  a  new  character  by 
pubhshing  a  Yiudication  of  the  Authority,  Constitution, 
and  Laws  of  the  Church  and  State  of  Scotland,  being 
a  defeuce  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  crowo,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  Episcopacy,  against  the  republican  princi- 
ples of  Buchanan.  A  dedication  to  Lauderdale,  against 
whose  character  he  afterwards  wrote  with  vehemence, 
exposed  him  to  a  charge  of  inconsistency,  but  most 
unjustly,  for  he  may  have  thought  highly  of  Lauderdale 
at  one  period  of  life,  and  have  seen  reasons  for  changing 
his  opinion  afterwards.  There  was  a  wonderful  judgment 
in  Burnet  in  choosing  the  right  time  for  his  publications, 
and  so  well  timed  was  this  work  considered,  that  he  was 
again  pressed  to  accept  a  bishopric,  with  the  promise  of 
the  first  vacant  archbishopric,  which  he  again  declined. 
Why  he  declined  on  this  occasion  is  not  quite  apparent ; 
he  may  have  shrunk  from  the  responsibilities  of  a  most 
unpopular  office,  or  he  may  have  been  influenced  by  his 
wife,  but  there  does  not  seem  at  this  period  any  reason  in 
principle  why  he  should  have  refused  the  appointment, 
since  he  had  committed  himself,  and  was  soon  after  sent 
among  the  Covenanters,  to  preach  to  them  on  the  necessity 
of  accepting  the  benefits  of  the  Act  of  Indulgence,  which 
they  indignantly  rejected.  He  was  disgusted  with  the 
Covenanters,  of  whom  he  said,  that  "  they  knew  very 
little  of  the  essentials  of  religion;"  "hot  men  among 
them,"  he  said,  "  were  positive,  and  all  of  them  were  full 
of  contention."  He  assisted  Archbishop  Leighton  also 
in  a  conference  which  he  held  with  the  leading  Presby- 
terian ministers,  for  the  pui*pose  of  an  *'  accommodation," 
but  the  conference  only  tended  to  widen  the  breach,  and 
Burnet,   indignant  that  those  whom  he  sought  to  benefit 


BURNET.  289 

should  think  differently  from  himself,  remarks,  that  "  the 
Presbyterians  may  see  how  much  their  behaviour  disgusted 
all  moderate,  wise  and  good  men ;  how  little  sincere  and 
honest  they  were  in  it  when  the  desire  of  popularity  made 
them  reject  propositions  which  came  so  home  to  the 
maxims  which  they  themselves  had  set  up." 

In  1673  he  went  again  to  London  and  preached  before 
Charles  II,  who  was  so  well  pleased  that  he  appointed 
him  one  of  his  chaplains  in  ordinary.  He  was  introduced 
by  the  Earl  of  Ancram  to  the  Duke  of  York,  with  whom 
he  soon  rose  into  favour.  He  introduced  Dr.  Stillinglleet 
to  the  Duke,  and  proposed  with  his  assistance  to  hold  a 
conference,  in  the  presence  of  his  royal  highness,  with 
some  Popish  priests  ;  but  this  was  prudently  declined. 

Upon  his  return  to  Scotland,  he  retired  to  his  professor- 
ship at  Glasgow,  but  was  obliged  the  next  year  to  return 
to  court,  in  order  that  he  might  justify  himself  against  the 
accusations  of  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale,  who  had  represented 
him  as  the  cause  of  the  failure  of  all  the  court  measures 
in  Scotland.  There  was  some  justice  in  the  accusation. 
The  King  received  him  very  coldly,  and  ordered  his  name 
to  be  struck  out  of  the  list  of  chaplains  ;  yet  at  the  Duke 
of  York's  intreaty,  consented  to  hear  what  he  could  ofifer 
in  his  own  justification,  with  which  he  seemed  to  be  satis- 
fied. As  Lauderdale,  however,  was  still  his  enemy, 
Burnet,  who  was  told  that  his  enemies  had  a  design  to 
have  him  imprisoned,  resigned  his  professor's  chair  at 
Glasgow,  and  resolved  to  settle  in  London.  About  this 
time  the  living  of  Cripplegate  being  vacant,  the  dean  and 
chapter  of  St.  Paul  s,  in  whose  gift  it  was,  hearing  of  his 
circumstances  and  the  hardships  he  had  undergone,  sent 
him  an  offer  of  the  benefice,  but  as  he  had  been  informed 
of  their  first  intention  of  conferring  it  on  Dr.  Fowler,  he 
generously  declined  it.  In  1675,  at  the  recommendation 
of  Lord  Hollis,  whom  he  had  known  in  France,  ambas- 
sador at  that  court,  he  was,  by  Sir  Harbottle  Grimstone, 
master  of  the  rolls,  appointed  preacher  of  the  chapel 
there,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  court.     He 


290  BURNET. 

was  soon  after  chosen  a  lecturer  of  St.  Clement's,  and 
became  a  popular  preacher.  "  I  have  heard  him  preach," 
says  Speaker  Onslow,  "  and  he  was  the  finest  figure  in 
the  pulpit  I  ever  saw." 

In  1676  he  pubhshed  his  memoirs  of  the  Dukes  of 
Hamilton,  and  also  an  account  of  a  conference  between 
himself  and  Dr.  Stillingfleet,  with  Coleman,  a  Jesuit,  and 
secretary  to  the  Duchess  of  York.  A  strong  no-popery 
feeling  at  this  thne  prevailed  in  the  country,  in  which 
Burnet  most  cordially  sympathized ;  a  just  alarm  was 
felt  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  court,  and  Burnet  was 
easily  persuaded  by  Sir  William  Jones,  the  attorney 
general,  to  write  a  history  of  the  Reformation  in  England. 
The  first  volume  was  published  in  1679,  at  a  time  when 
it  was  sure  to  succeed,  during  the  agitation  of  the  Popish 
plot.  So  well-timed  was  its  publication,  that  Burnet 
received  the  thanks  of  both  houses  of  parliament,  with  a 
desire  that  he  would  finish  the  work.  He  was  not 
thanked  by  the  convocation.  He  published  the  second 
volume  in  1681,  and  the  third,  with  a  supplement,  in 
1715.  Burnet  was  of  too  vehement  a  temper,  and  too 
much  of  a  party  man,  to  be  able  to  take  a  calm,  dis- 
passionate, philosophical  view  of  the  history  he  undertook 
to  write.  His  history  is  the  history  of  a  partizan,  and  is 
therefore  too  one-sided.  When  this  is  known,  and  allow- 
ance is  made  for  the  author  s  bias,  it  is  a  work  which 
every  student  of  the  history  or  of  the  theology  of  his  coun- 
try will  read  with  profit.  He  will  find  on  the  one  side 
faults  extenuated,  while,  on  the  other  side,  they  are  ex^- 
gerated,  but  he  will  not  find  facts  wilfully  misrepresented. 
And  such  an  historian  as  Burnet  is  at  least  more  impar- 
tial than  some  modern  historians,  who,  professing  to  write 
history  philosophically,  pretend  to  an  impartiality  which 
is  only  violated  when  the  Church  of  England  or  her 
divines  are  censured.  Burnet's  history  was  intended  to 
be  a  counterpart  to  Sander's  Sixty  Years  Schism,  which 
had  lately  been  translated  into  French,  and  industriously 
circulated  in  France.   And,  both  for  integrity  and  temper, 


BURNET.  291 

the  comparison  is  in  favour  of  the  Protestant,  to  the  con- 
demnation of  the  Popish  historian. 

About  the  time  of  the  publication  of  his  first  volume  he 
attended  a  sick  person,  who  had  been  engaged  in  an  amour 
v?ith  the  Earl  of  Piochester.  The  manner  in  which  he 
treated  her  during  her  illness,  gave  that  lord  a  great 
desire  to  become  acquainted  with  him.  Whereupon 
for  a  whole  winter,  he  spent  one  evening  in  a  week  with 
Mr.  Burnet,  who  discoursed  with  him  upon  all  those 
topics,  upon  which  sceptics  and  men  of  loose  morals  attack 
the  Christian  religion.  The  happy  effect  of  these  confer- 
ences occasioned  the  publication  of  his  account  of  the  life 
and  death  of  that  earl,  an  account  which  Dr.  Johnson 
says,  "  the  critic  ought  to  read  for  its  eloquence,  the 
philosopher  for  its  argument,  and  the  saint  for  its  piety." 
Burnet  indeed  had  honestly  attempted  to  convert  King 
Charles,  to  whom  on  one  occasion  he  addressed  a  letter  of 
remonstrance,  conceived  not  with  judgment  or  delicacy  of 
feeling,  but  with  an  honest  intent.  It  appears  that  he 
was  often  consulted  by  Charles  during  the  Popish  plot, 
and  that  he  received  from  him  the  offer  of  the  bishopric  of 
Chichester,  "  provided  he  would  entirely  come  into  his 
interest," — a  base  offer  of  a  bribe  on  the  part  of  the  King, 
which  Burnet,  like  an  honest  man,  refused.  When  the 
administration  was  changed  in  1682  in  favour  of  the  Duke 
of  York,  Burnet  sacrificed  all  his  views  at  court,  together 
with  the  preachership  of  the  rolls,  rather  than  desert  his 
party.  He  published  in  168'2  the  Life  of  Sir  M.  Hale, 
and  the  History  of  the  Plight  of  Princes  in  the  disposal  of 
Ecclesiastical  benefits  and  Church  Lands.  He  was  sus- 
pected of  having  written  the  speech  which  Lord  WilHam 
Pcussell  delivered  on  the  scaffold,  and  was,  in  consequence, 
examined  at  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Commons.  In  1683 
he  was  offered  a  living  in  the  country,  but  as  it  was  on 
condition  that  he  should  reside  in  London,  where  his  ser- 
vices were  required  by  his  party :  with  his  usual  disinter- 
estedness, and  consistent  observance  of  his  principles,  he 
refused  it,   and  went  to  Paris,  where  he  was  well  received 


292  BURNET. 

at  the  court.  On  his  return,  the  same  year,  he  published 
a  translation  and  Examination  of  a  Letter  written  by  the 
last  General  Assembly  of  the  clergy  of  France  to  the  Pro- 
testants, inviting  them  to  return  to  their  communion,  &c. 
Also  a  translation  of  Sir  Thomas  More's  Utopia,  with  a 
preface,  concerning  the  nature  of  translations.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  resentment  of  the  court,  he  was  deprived  of 
his  lectureship  at  St.  Clement's,  because  he  had  com- 
mented with  great  and  just  severity  on  the  gunpowder 
plot  on  its  anniversary,  which  gave  great  offence  to  a 
popishly  affected  court.  Charles  also  intimated  to  the 
inhabitants  of  a  parish  in  London,  to  whom  the  right  of 
election  to  a  vacant  benefice  belonged,  that  if  they  chose 
Burnet,  he  would  be  highly  displeased.  In  1685  he 
published  his  life  of  Bishop  Bedell ;  and  on  the  accession 
of  James  11.  Burnet  thought  it  prudent  to  retire  to  Paris, 
where  he  lived  in  great  privacy  for  a  short  time,  and  soon 
after  went  to  Rome,  where  at  first  he  was  well  received. 
He  soon  with  indiscretion  and  vehemence  entered  into 
some  religious  disputes,  and  he  then  received  a  hint  that 
it  was  necessary  for  his  personal  safety  that  he  should 
immediately  quit  that  city.  From  Rome  he  went  to 
Geneva,  where  he  was  instrumental  in  procuring  the 
abolition  of  the  practice  of  compelling  the  ministers  of 
religion  to  subscribe  their  consensus,  or  consent  of  doctrine 
w'hich  many  holding  Socinian  doctrines,  the  legitimate 
offspring  of  Calvinism,  thought  they  could  not  conscien- 
tiously do.  He  then  went  to  Utrecht,  with  the  view  of 
settling  there ;  but  he  was  invited  to  the  Hague  by  the 
Prince  and  Princess  of  Orange,  whom  he  advised  to  put 
the  Dutch  fleet  immediately  into  commission,  and  pre- 
vailed on  their  highnesses  to  write  to  King  James,  in 
favour  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  who  was  then  under 
suspension.  When  Dychvelt  was  sent  ambassador  into 
England,  Buraet  w^as  employed  to  draw  up  his  secret 
instructions,  and  advised  the  Princess  to  make  known 
what  share  of  the  government  the  Prince  might  expect,  in 
the  event  of  the  crown  of  England  devolving   on  her. 


BURNET.  293 

James  was  offended  at  the  high  favour  shown  to  Burnet  at 
the  Hague,  (who  was  indeed  acting  as  a  traitor,)  and 
wrote  two  severe  letters  to  the  Princess,  insisting  on  his 
being  forbidden  the  court.  Burnet  was,  accordingly,  ex- 
cluded from  the  court,  but  he  was  employed  and  trusted 
as  formerly,  nevertheless.  About  this  period  he  married 
Miss  Mary  Scott,  a  Dutch  lady  of  great  fortune,  and  a 
descendant  of  the  family  of  Buccleuch,  in  Scotland. 

Burnet,  who  was  in  fact  more  guilty  of  high  treason 
than  many  a  poor  wretch  who  has  been  hanged,  drawn, 
and  quartered,  instead  of  suffering  for  his  crime,  was  re- 
warded, through  the  success  of  his  treasonable  practices. 
In  the  revolution  of  1688  he  had  a  very  important  share, 
and  whatever  benefits  may  have  been  derived  to  the  coun- 
try by  that  event,  the  conduct  of  the  chief  movers  in  it 
cannot  be  sufficiently  reprobated.  Burnet,  and  a  few  of 
those  most  active  in  the  Orange  interest,  saw  the  end  from 
the  beginning ;  and  while  the  good  people  of  England 
only  desired  to  have  their  infatuated  King  restrained  in  his 
tyrannical  attempts  to  introduce  Popery  into  our  church, 
Burnet  and  his  friends  were  determined  to  change  the 
dynasty.  Of  the  Ptevolution  he  gave  early  notice  to 
the  court  of  Hanover,  intimating  that  its  success  would 
naturally  lead  to  the  entail  of  the  British  Crown  on  that 
illustrious  family,  with  which  he  kept  up  a  correspond- 
ence, fie  wrote  several  pamphlets  in  support  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange's  designs,  whom  he  accompanied  on  his 
expedition  in  quality  of  chaplain,  and  at  Exeter  drew  up 
the  association  for  pursuing  the  ends  of  his  highness's 
declaration.  Dr.  Crew,  Bishop  of  Durham,  offered  to 
resign  that  see  in  favour  of  Burnet,  on  condition  of  receiv- 
ing £1000  per  annum,  which  was  declined.  But  the  see 
of  Salisbury  falling  vacant,  he  was  preferred  to  it.  So 
objectionable  was  this  promotion  thought,  that  Archbishop 
Sancroft  ventured  to  incur  a  premunire,  rather  than  con- 
secrate him  ;  but  at  last  was  persuaded  to  grant  a  com- 
mission to  all,  or  to  any  three  of  the  Bishops  of  his  pro- 
vox.  III.  H  c 


294  BURNET. 

vince,  in  conjunction  with  the  Bishop  of  London,  to 
exercise  his  metropoHtical  powers,  and  Burnet  was  con- 
secrated on  the  31st  March,  1689. 

He  soon  became  distinguished  as  a  party  man  in  the 
House  of  Lords.  Lord  Dartmouth  describes  him  as  a 
man  "  of  the  most  extensive  knowledge  I  ever  met  with  ; 
he  had  read  and  seen  a  great  deal,  with  a  prodigious 
memory,  and  a  very  indifferent  judgment ;  he  was  very 
partial,  readily  took  every  thing  for  granted  that  he  heard 
to  the  prejudice  of  those  that  he  did  not  like ;  which 
made  him  pass  for  a  man  of  less  truth  than  he  really  was. 
I  do  not  think  he  designedly  published  any  thing  he  be- 
lieved to  be  false.  He  had  a  boisterous  vehement  manner 
of  expressing  himself,  which  often  made  him  ridiculous, 
especially  in  the  House  of  Lords,  when  what  he  said 
would  not  have  been  thought  so,  delivered  in  a  lower 
voice  and  a  calmer  behaviour.  His  vast  knowledge  occa- 
sioned his  frequent  rambling  from  the  point  he  was 
speaking  to,  which  ran  him  into  discourses  of  so  universal 
a  nature,  that  there  was  no  end  to  be  expected  but  from  a 
failure  of  his  strength  and  spirits,  of  both  of  which  he  had 
a  laiger  share  than  most  men ;  which  were  accompanied 
with  a  most  invincible  assurance."  His  lordship  also  in- 
forms us  that  "it  is  notoriously  known,  that  the  Marquis 
of  Halifax,  after  he  sat  with  him  (Bumet)  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  ma  le  it  his  constant  diversion  to  turn  him  and  all 
he  said  into  ridicule ;  and  his  son,  the  last  marquis,  told 
me  in  his  private  conversation,  he  always  spoke  of  him 
with  the  utmost  contempt,  as  a  factious,  turbulent,  busy 
man,  who  was  always  officiously  meddling  with  what  he 
had  nothing  to  do,  and  very  dangerous  to  put  any  con- 
fidence in,  having  met  with  many  scandalous  breaches  of 
trust  while  he  had  any  conversation  with  him." 

When,  in  1740,  John  Duke  of  Argyle  alluded  to  Bishop 
Burnet's  History  of  his  own  Times  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
he  said  of  him,  "  those  who  have  sat  in  this  house  with 
that  prelate   must  know  that  he  was  a  very  credulous. 


BURNET.  !395 

weak  man.  I  remember  him,  my  lords,  in  this  house ; 
and  I  likewise  remember  that  my  Lord  Halifax,  my  Lord 
Somers,  and  his  other  friends  in  the  house,  were  always 
in  a  terror  when  he  rose  to  speak,  lest  he  should  injure 
their  cause  by  some  blunder." 

On  taking  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords,  he  advocated 
the  Act  of  Toleration.  He  proposed  the  succession  of  the 
Electress  Sophia  of  Brunswick,  next  after  the  Princess 
Anne,  by  the  command  of  William  ;  and  the  house  of 
Hanover  always  considered  him  as  their  devoted  adherent, 
with  whom  the  Princess  Sophia  maintained  a  correspond- 
ence to  the  day  of  her  death.  He  published  a  pastoral 
letter  to  the  clergy  of  his  diocese,  respecting  the  oaths  of 
allegiance  and  supremacy,  in  which  he  grounded  the 
Prince  and  Princess  of  Orange's  title  to  the  crown  on  the 
right  of  conquest,  which  gave  such  offence  to  both  houses 
of  parliament,  that  they  ordered  it  to  be  burnt  by  the 
hands  of  the  common  hangman.  On  this  point  he  was 
undoubtedly  right :  it  was  by  the  sword,  not  by  any  con- 
stitutional act,  that  the  Prince  of  Orange  was  placed  on 
the  throne  of  these  Pi-ealms. 

We  have  hitherto  regarded  Burnet  as  a  turbulent  offi- 
cious politician,  or  a  mendacious  historian,  guilty  of  men- 
dacity through  party  vehemence  rather  than  from  a  wish 
to  deceive  ;  we  have  now  the  more  pleasant  duty  of  repre- 
senting him  as  an  active,  zealous,  conscientious  prelate. 
His  mind  was  earnest,  and  whatever  he  attempted  he  did 
with  all  his  might.  On  the  rising  of  parliament  he  went 
down  to  his  diocese,  w^here  he  exercised  his  episcopal 
functions  with  exemplary  vigilance.  In  1692  he  pub- 
lished the  Pastoral  Care,  in  which  he  specified  the  clerical 
duties  with  great  plainness,  and  enforced  them  with  equal 
zeal.  In  1693  he  published  his  Four  Discourses  to  the 
clergy  of  his  diocese;  and  in  1694  he  preached  the  funeral 
sermon  of  his  intimate  friend  Archbishop  Tillotson,  and 
defended  his  memory  from  some  attacks.  Queen  Mary 
died  the  same  year,   and  Burnet  published  an  essay  on 


596  BURNET. 

her  character.  We  are  not  informed  when  Lady  Margaret 
Burnet,  his  first  wife,  died ;  but  Mrs.  Burnet  died  of  the 
small-pox  in  1698,  whose  loss  he  soon  supplied  by  marry- 
ing a  third  wife,  Mrs.  Berkeley,  of  Spetchley,  near  Wor- 
cester, a  person  of  a  very  high  class  of  mind.  The  Bishop's 
son  informs  us  that  he  was  a  very  affectionate  husband  to 
all  his  three  wives.  We  may  here  remark  that  there  is  a 
passage  in  Bishop  Burnet's  Life  of  the  Earl  of  Rochester, 
which  seems  to  shew  that  in  later  life  he  discarded  the 
opinion  he  at  one  time  entertained  in  favour  of  polygamy. 
In  the  year  1670,  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale,  having  inform- 
ed him  that  the  Duke  of  York  was  a  Papist,  hinted  to  him 
the  disgraceful  intrigue  into  which  some  ultra-Protestants 
had  entered,  to  obtain  a  divorce  for  Charles  II.,  and  to  set 
aside  the  duke  by  obtaining  an  heir  for  the  crown.  The 
questions  were  put  to  Dr.  Burnet,  whether  a  woman's  bar- 
renness was  a  just  ground  for  divorce,  or  for  polygamy ; 
and,  secondly,  whether  polygamy  be  in  any  case  lawful 
under  the  Gospel.  Burnet,  who  was  an  ultra-Protestant, 
not  an  Anglican,  resolved  both  these  cases  in  the  affirma- 
tive, according  to  the  principles  of  his  masters,  the  great 
foreign  Reformers. — (See  Life  of  Bucer.J — In  the  year  of 
his  third  marriage.  Bishop  Burnet  was  appointed  preceptor 
to  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  son  of  the  Princess  Anne, 
which  he  very  reluctantly  accepted ;  and  as  he  considered 
the  due  discharge  of  this  duty  to  be  inconsistent  with  his 
duties  to  his  diocese,  he  surprised  William  by  offering  to 
resign  his  bishopric.  It  was  at  last  agreed  that  the  prince 
should  reside  at  Windsor,  which  is  within  the  diocese  of 
Salisbury,  and  that  the  Bishop  should  be  allowed  ten 
weeks  annually  to  visit  his  diocese.  He  seems  to  have 
bestowed  great  care  on  the  prince  s  education,  and  to  have 
exerted  a  watchful  superintendence  over  the  inferior 
teachers.  He  published  his  Exposition  of  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles  in  1699,  the  object  of  which  is  to  shew  that  they 
may  be  understood  in  a  non-natural  sense,  by  either 
Arminians  or  Calvinists. 


BURNET.  297 

In  the  convocation  which  assembled  in  1700,  the  clergy 
of  the  lower  house  deHvered  the  following  representation 
with  respect  to  this  book,  to  the  house  of  bishops : 

"  Whereas  a  book  hath  been  lately  published,  entitled, 
'  An  Exposition  of  the  XXXIX  Articles  of  the  Church  of 
England,  by  Gilbert,  Lord  Bishop  of  Sarum,'  which  the 
author  declares  to  have  passed  the  perusal  of  both  the 
Archbishops,  and  several  Bishops  and  other  learned  di- 
vines, and  suggests  their  approbation  of  it ;  and  whereas 
we  think  it  our  duty,  as  much  as  in  us  lies,  to  secure  the 
doctrines  contained  in  those  articles,  from  any  attempts 
that  may  be  made  against  them  ;  we  most  humbly  offer  to 
your  grace  and  your  lordships  the  sense  of  this  house, 
which  is  as  follows  : 

"1.  That  the  said  book  tends  to  introduce  such  a  lati- 
tude and  diversity  of  opinions,  as  the  Articles  were  framed 
to  avoid. 

"  -2.  That  there  are  many  passages  in  the  exposition  of 
several  articles,  which  appear  to  us  to  be  contrary  to  the 
true  meaning  of  them,  and  to  other  received  doctrines  of 
our  Church. 

"3.  That  there  are  some  things  in  the  said  book  which 
seem  to  us  to  be  of  dangerous  consequence  to  the  Church 
of  England  as  by  law  established,  and  to  derogate  from 
the  honour  of  its  Reformation. 

"  iVll  which  particulars  we  humbly  lay  before  your  lord- 
ships, praying  your  opinion  herein." 

To  this  representation  the  Bishops,  waiving  for  the  time 
the  atonement  they  had  required  for  the  contumacy  of  the 
other  house,  prepared  the  following  answer : 

"1.  It  is  our  opinion  that  the  lower  house  of  con- 
vocation has  no  manner  of  power  judicially  to  censure  any 
book. 

"  2.  That  the  lower  house  of  convocation  ought  not  to 
have  entered  upon  the  examination  of  a  book  of  any 
Bishop  of  this  Church,  without  first  acquainting  the  pre- 
sident and  Bishops  with  it. 

'2c  2 


•298  BURNET. 

"3.  That  the  lower  house  of  convocation's  censuring 
the  book  of  the  Bishop  of  Sarura  in  general  terms,  without 
mentioning  the  particular  passages  on  which  the  censure 
is  grounded,  is  defamatory  and  scandalous. 

"  4.  That  the  Bishop  of  Sarum  by  his  excellent 
'  History  of  the  Reformation'  approved  by  both  houses  of 
parliament,  and  other  writings,  hath  done  great  service  to 
the  Church  of  England,  and  justly  deserves  the  thanks  of 
this  house. 

"5.  That  though  private  persons  may  expound  the 
articles  of  the  Church,  yet  it  cannot  be  proper  for  the  con- 
vocation at  this  time  to  approve,  and  much  less  to  con- 
demn, such  private  expositions." 

The  particularities  of  the  charge  against  Bishop  Burnet's 
book,  which  the  Bishops  insisted  on  receiving,  were  never 
delivered  to  them,  and  the  convocation  was  prorogued  by 
royal  writ  to  the  7th  of  August,  then  to  the  18th  of 
September,  and  so  on  till  both  convocation  and  parliament 
were  dissolved  in  the  month  of  November,  1701. 

Burnet  projected  the  scheme  for  the  augmentation  of 
poor  livings,  known  by  the  name  of  Queen  Anne's  bounty, 
which  in  1704  was  incorporated  by  act  of  parliament. 
The  first-fruits  were  at  first  seized  by  the  Pope,  and  after- 
wards transferred  to  the  crown  by  Henry  VIII.,  and  now 
were  restored  to  the  Church  by  Queen  Anne.  In  1706 
Burnet  published  a  collection  of  Sermons,  in  3  vols,  4to ; 
in  1710,  an  Exposition  of  the  Church  Catechism;  and  in 
1713,  Sermons  on  several  Occasions,  with  an  Essay  to- 
wards a  new  book  of  Homilies,  with  many  other  short 
pieces,  which  we  have  not  room  to  enumerate.  Bishop 
Burnet  died  on  the  17th  March,  1715,  in  the  seventy- 
second  year  of  his  age,  and  was  interred  in  the  parish 
Church  of  St.  James,  Clerkenwell,  in  London.  After  his 
death,  his  son  Thomas  Burnet,  Esq.,  published  his  'His- 
tory of  his  Own  Times.'  The  conclusion  of  this  work  is 
written,  says  Lord  Dartmouth,  "  with  a  spirit  of  modera- 
tion  and  integrity  that   could   not    have    been    expected 


BURNET.  299 

from  the  author  of  the  precedent  history,  to  which  it  has 
little  or  no  relation;  and  had  he  never  published  any 
thing  besides  this,  and  his  History  of  the  Reformation,  he 
might  have  passed  hereafter  as  a  good  as  well  as  a  learned 
man ;  but  he  was  so  intoxicated  w^ith  party  zeal  and  fury, 
that  he  never  scrupled  saying  or  doing  any  thing  that 
he  thought  could  promote  the  ends  of  a  party  to  which  he 
had  so  extremely  devoted  himself."  Bishop  Burnet  him- 
self says,  "  I  find  that  the  long  experience  I  have  had  of 
the  business,  the  malice,  and  the  falsehood  of  mankind,  has 
inclined  me  to  think  generally  the  worst  of  men  and  of 
parties." 

It  is  necessary  to  remind  the  reader  of  these  things,  as 
Bishop  Burnet  in  his  history  maligns  great  and  good  men 
with  whom  for  their  excellence  he  was  not  himself  to  be 
compared.  Of  Archbishops  Sheldon  and  Sancroft  he 
speaks  with  unpardonable  severity ;  and  of  the  clergy 
generally,  whom  he  treated  with  excessive  harshness,  he 
admits  that  he  may  have  been  too  much  "  irritated  against 
them  in  consequence  of  the  peevishness,  ill-nature,  and 
ambition  of  many  of  them." 

The  list  of  Bishop  Burnet's  works  is  too  long  for  inser- 
tion, and  may  be  found  in  the  Oxford  edition  of  His  Own 
Times,  published  in  1823. 

Burners  Own  Times,  Edit.  Oxon.  Life  appended  by  Sir 
Thomas  Burnet.  Notes  by  Lord  Dartmouth,  Sidft,  and 
others,  printed  in  the  Oxford  edition. 


BUKNET,  THOMAS. 

Thomas  Buenet  was  born  at  Croft,  in  Yorkshire,  about 
the  year  1635.  His  earlier  education  was  at  the  free- 
school  of  North  Allerton,  in  that  county,  whence  he  was 
removed  to  Clare  Hall,  Cambridge,  where  he  had 
Dr.  Tillotson  for  his  tutor.  Dr.  Cudworth  was  at  that 
time  master  of  Clare  Hall,  but  removed  from  it  to  the 


300  BURNET. 

mastership  of  Christ's  College,  iu  1654;  and  thither 
Burnet  followed  him.  Under  his  patronage  he  was  chosen 
fellow  in  1657,  commenced  M.  A.  in  1658,  and  became 
senior  proctor  of  the  university  in  1661  ;  but  it  is  uncer- 
tain how  long  he  continued  his  residence  there.  On 
leaving  college,  he  travelled  in  the  capacity  of  tutor ;  first 
with  the  young  Earl  of  Wiltshire,  son  of  the  Marquis  of 
Winchester,  (soon  after  the  Revolution  created  Duke  of 
Bolton,)  and  afterwards  with  the  young  Earl  of  Ossory, 
grandson  and  heir  of  the  first  Duke  of  Ormond.  His  first 
publication  was  his  "  Telluris  Theoria  Sacra,  Orbis  nostri 
Originem  et  Mutationes  generales,  quas  olim  subiit  et 
subiturus  est,  Complectens."  This  work,  the  basis  of  his 
fame,  was  originally  published  in  Latin,  in  2  vols,  4to,  the 
first  two  books  concerning  the  Deluge  and  Paradise,  in 
1681 ;  the  last  two,  concerning  the  Burning  of  the  World, 
and  the  New  Heavens  and  New  Earth,  in  1689.  The 
approbation  this  work  met  with,  and  the  particular  en- 
couragement of  Charles  II.,  who  relished  its  beauties, 
induced  the  author  to  translate  it  into  English.  Of  this 
translation  he  published  the  first  two  books  in  1684,  folio, 
with  an  elegant  dedication  to  the  King ;  and  the  last  two 
in  1689,  with  a  no  less  elegant  dedication  to  Queen  Mary. 
Of  the  Sacred  Theory  of  the  Earth,  which  is  the  principal 
of  all  his  productions,  the  theory  is  well  imagined,  sup- 
ported with  much  erudition,  and  described  with  great 
elegance  of  diction ;  but  it  can  only  be  considered  as  an 
ingenious  fancy,  and  its  mistakes  arise  from  too  close  an 
adherence  to  the  philosophy  of  Des  Cartes,  and  the  whole 
fabric  is  a  mere  visionary  system  of  cosmogony.  Yet  it 
would  be  endless  to  transcribe  all  the  encomiums  passed 
on  it.  Mr.  Addison  in  1699,  wrote  a  Latin  Ode  in  its 
praise,  which  has  been  prefixed  to  many  editions  of  it. 
Dr.  Warton,  in  his  Essay  on  Pope,  has  not  scrupled,  from 
this  single  work,  to  rank  Dr.  Burnet  with  the  very  few  in 
whom  the  three  great  faculties  of  the  understanding,  viz. 
judgment,   imagination,  and  memory,    have   been   found 


BURNET.  301 

united.  On  the  19th  of  May,  1685,  he  was  chosen  master 
of  the  Charter-house,  by  the  interest  of  the  Duke  of 
Ormond,  Lord  Steward,  to  whose  grandson,  the  Earl  of 
Ossory,  he  had  been  governor.  Those  Bishops,  who  were 
of  the  number  of  the  electors,  made  exceptions  to  him, 
that  though  he  was  a  clergyman,  he  went  always  in  a  lay 
habit.  But  Ormond  being  satisfied  that  his  conversation 
and  manners  were  worthy  of  a  clergyman  in  all  respects, 
insisted  that  these  points  were  much  more  essential  than 
the  exterior  habit.  In  this  station  he  made  a  noble 
stand  against  an  attempt  of  King  James,  to  impose  one 
xlndrew  Popham,  a  Papist,  as  a  pensioner  upon  the 
foundation  of  that  house.  After  the  Revolution,  he 
was  appointed  chaplain  in  ordinary  to  King  William, 
and  also  clerk  of  the  closet.  The  latter  place  he  owed  to 
Archbishop  Tillotson's  interest.  In  169'2  he  published, 
"  Archfeologise  Philosophicae  ;  sive  Doctiina  Antiqua  de 
Rerum  Originibus.  4to,"  with  a  dedication  to  King  William. 
But  neither  the  high  rank  and  authority  of  his  patron, 
nor  the  elegance  and  learning  displayed  throughout  the 
work,  could  protect  the  author  from  the  indignation  excited 
against  him  for  allegorizing  in  a  very  improper  manner 
the  Sciipture  account  of  the  Fall.  It  contains  an  imagi- 
nary dialogue  between  Eve  and  the  Sei'pent.  In  conse- 
quence of  which,  as  appears  from  a  Latin  letter  written  by 
himself  to  Walters,  a  bookseller  at  Amsterdam,  dated 
September  14,  1G94,  he  desires  to  have  the  offensive  parts 
omitted  in  the  future  editions  of  that  work.  But  all  this 
proved  insufficient ;  and  the  storm  raised  against  him  was 
increased  by  an  encomium  which  Charles  Blount,  a  pro- 
fessed infidel,  and  the  author  of  the  Oracles  of  Reason, 
bestowed  upon  his  work.  The  support  of  this  infidel 
writer  gave  such  force  to  the  complaints  of  the  clergy, 
that  it  was  judged  expedient,  in  that  critical  season,  to 
remove  Burnet  from  his  place  of  clerk  of  the  closet.  He 
withdrew  accordingly  from  court ;  and,  if  Mr.  Oldmixon 
can  be  credited,  actually  missed   the  see  of  Canterbury, 


30-2  BURTON. 

upon  the  death  of  Tillotson,  on  account  of  this  very  work, 
wliich  occasioned  him  to  be  then  represented  by  some 
Bishops  as  a  sceptical  writer.  He  then  retired  to  his 
studies  in  the  Charter-house,  where  he  lived  to  an  ad- 
vanced age.     He  died  in  1715. 

In  1727,  two  other  works  of  his  were  published  in  8vo, 
by  his  friend  Mr.  Wilkinson,  of  Lincoln's  Inn ;  one,  De 
Fide  et  Officiis  Christianorum ;  the  other,  De  Statu  Mor- 
tuorum  et  Resurgentium  ;  in  this  latter  the  author  main- 
tains the  doctrine  of  the  Millennium,  and  the  limited 
duration  of  future  punishment.  One  of  the  few  copies 
which  Burnet  had  caused  to  be  printed,  happened  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Mead,  who,  ignorant  of  the  name  of 
the  author,  had  the  work  handsomely  reprinted.  The 
text  was  very  faultily  revised  by  Mattaire.  To  the  second 
edition,  in  1733,  of  De  Statu  Mortuorum  et  Resurgentium, 
is  added  an  appendix,  De  futura  Judi3eorum  Restauratione: 
it  appearing  to  the  editor  from  Burnet's  papers,  that  it 
was  designed  to  be  placed  there.  He  is  said  also  to  have 
been  the  author  of  three  small  pieces  without  his  name, 
under  the  title  of  Remarks  upon  an  Essay  concerning 
Human  Understaoding;  the  first  two  published  in  1697, 
the  last  in  1699  ;  which  Remarks  were  answered  by 
Mrs.  Catherine  Trotter,  afterwards  Mrs.  Cockburn,  then 
but  twentj'-three  years  of  age,  in  her  Defence  of  Mr.  Locke's 
Essay,  printed  in  May,  1702. 

Dr.  Burnet  while  eulogized  by  men  of  literature  as  a 
profound  genius,  was  justly  censured  by  divines  for  his 
heretical  tenets  and  presumptuous  speculations,  and  has 
been  attacked  by  men  of  science  for  having  argued  on 
erroneous  and  false  principles. — Dr.  Ralph  Heathcotes 
Life  in  Chalmers. 

BURTON,    HEZEKIAH. 

Hezekiah  Burton  was  educated  at  Magdalen  College, 
Cambridge,  of  which  he  became  a  fellow,  and  where  he 


BURTON.  303 

was  an  eminent  tutor.  He  was  ordained  priest  by  Bishop 
Sanderson ;  and,  in  1667,  was  appointed  chaplain  to  Lord 
Keeper  Bridgeman,  by  whom  he  was  presented  to  a  pre- 
bend of  Norwich,  and  to  the  rectory  of  St.  George's,  South- 
wark.  In  1668,  he  was  engaged,  with  Dr.  Stillingfleet 
and  Dr.  Tillotson,  in  the  treaty  proposed  by  Sir  Orlando 
Bridgeman,  and  countenanced  by  Lord  Chief  Baron  Hale, 
for  a  comprehension  with  the  dissenters.  One  of  the 
proposals  made  was  that  Presbyterians  should  be  admitted 
to  officiate  in  the  Catholic  Church  of  England,  by  imposi- 
tion of  hands,  with  words  importing,  that  the  person  so 
ordained  was  received  to  serve  as  a  minister  of  the  Church 
of  England.  Dr.  Bates,  Dr.  Manton,  and  Mr.  Baxter,  as 
Presbyterians,  were  willing  to  come  into  these  terms,  as 
well  as  they  might :  the  Church  of  England  was  treated 
as  a  sect,  to  minister  in  which  a  useless  form  was  to 
be  submitted  to,  but  the  grace  of  the  holy  ordinance 
of  orders  was  virtually  denied.  Other  concessions  were 
of  course  to  be  made.  "  The  particulars  of  that  pro- 
ject," says  Bishop  Burnet,  "being  thus  concerted,  they 
were  brought  to  the  Lord  Chief  Baron ;  who  put  them 
in  form  of  a  bill,  to  be  presented  to  the  next  session  of 
pai'liament. 

•'  But  two  parties  appeared  vigorously  against  this 
design:  the  one,  was  of  some  zealous  clergymen,  who 
thought  it  below  the  dignity  of  the  Church,  to  alter  laws 
and  change  settlements,  for  the  sake  of  some,  whom  they 
esteemed  schismatics  :  they,  also,  believed  it  was  better  to 
keep  them  out  of  the  Church,  than  bring  them  into  it, 
since  a  faction  upon  that  would  arise  in  the  Church, 
which,  they  thought,  might  be  more  dangerous  than  the 
schism  itself  was.  Besides,  they  said,  if  some  things  were 
now  to  be  changed,  in  compliance  with  the  humour  of  a 
party,  as  soon  as  that  was  done,  another  party  might  de- 
mand other  concessions ;  and  there  might  be  as  good 
reasons  invented  for  these,  as  for  those :  many  such 
concessions   might,    also,    shake    those    of    our   Commu- 


304  BURTON. 

nion,  and  tempt  them  to  forsake  us,  and  go  over  to  the 
Church  of  Rome  ;  pretending,  that  we  changed  so  often, 
that  they  were,  thereby,  incHned  to  be  of  a  Church 
that  was  constant  and  true  to  herself.  These  were 
the  reasons  brought,  and  chiefly  insisted  on,  against 
all  comprehension  :  and  they  wrought  upon  the  greater 
part  of  the  House  of  Commons,  so  that  they  passed 
a  vote,  against  the  receiving  of  any  bill  for  that 
effect. 

"  There  were  others,  that  opposed  it  upon  very  different 
ends  :  they  designed  to  shelter  the  Papists  from  the  exe- 
cution of  the  law;  and  saw  clearly,  that  nothing  could 
bring  in  Popery,  so  well  as  a  toleration.  But,  to  tolerate 
Popery  bare-faced,  would  have  startled  the  nation  too 
much  :  so,  it  was  necessary  to  hinder  all  the  propositions 
for  union,  since,  the  keeping  up  the  differences  was  the 
best  colour  they  could  find,  for  getting  the  toleration  to 
pass,  only  as  a  slackening  the  laws  against  dissenters ; 
whose  numbers  and  wealth,  made  it  advisable  to  have 
some  regard  to  them  :  and,  under  this  pretence.  Popery 
might  have  crept  in  more  covered,  and  less  regarded. 
So,  these  counsels  being  more  acceptable  to  some  con- 
cealed Papists,  then  in  great  power,  as  has  since  ap- 
peared but  too  evidently,  the  whole  project  for  compre- 
hension was  let  fall :  and  those  who  had  set  it  on  foot, 
came  to  be  looked  on  with  an  ill  eye,  as  secret  favourers 
of  the  dissenters,  underminers  of  the  Church,  and  every 
thing  else  that  jealousy  and  distaste  could  cast  on 
them." 

About  a  year  before  his  death,  Oct.  19,  1680,  by  the 
interest  of  his  friend  Tillotson  with  the  chapter  of 
St.  Paul's,  Dr.  Burton  obtained  the  rectory  of  Barnes,  in 
Surrey,  where  he  died,  in  1681.  He  wrote  the  short 
Alloquium  ad  Lectorem,  prefixed  to  Cumberland's  treatise, 
De  Legibus  Naturae.  After  his  decease,  Dr.  Tillotson 
published  two  volumes  of  his  discourses,  which  are  writ- 
ten with  singular  ability. 


BURTON.  805 

BURTON,    HENRY. 

Henry  Burton.  This  celebrated  Puritan  was  born  at 
Birdsall,  in  Yorkshire,  about  1579,  and  educated  at 
St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  where  he  took  both  his 
degrees  in  arts.  He  was  afterwards  in  161*2  incoi-jDorated 
M.  A.  at  Oxford,  and  there  took  the  degree  of  B.  D.  He 
first  was  tutor  to  the  sons  of  Lord  Carey  of  Lepington, 
afterwards  Earl  of  Monmouth,  and  was  appointed  proba- 
bly by  his  lordship's  interest,  clerk  of  the  closet  to  Prince 
Henry  ;  and  after  his  death  to  Prince  Charles.  He  was 
appointed  in  16*23,  to  attend  the  Prince  into  Spain,  but 
this  appointment  was  cancelled,  for  reasons  unknown,  after 
his  luggage  had  been  shipped.  He  did  not  forget  this  dis- 
appointment, but  probably  he  would  have  remained  in 
silence  had  his  ambition  been  gratified :  for  on  the  accession 
of  King  Charles  he  was  mortally  offended  at  not  being  con- 
tinued clerk  of  the  closet, — Dr.  Neile,  Bishop  of  Durham, 
who  had  filled  that  office  under  James  I.  being  continued. 
These  two  disappointments  excited  his  hatred,  and  he 
revenged  himself  by  a  continual  course  of  opposition  and 
abuse  to  the  Church.  In  1625  he  was  dismissed  the 
Court,  for  some  misdemeanour,  and  for  presuming  to 
write  a  letter  to  the  King,  charging  Bishops  Xeile  and 
Laud  as  inclined  to  Popery.  About  the  same  time  he 
was  presented  to  the  rectory  of  St.  Matthew's,  Friday 
Street,  London,  but  the  date  of  his  institution  is  not 
known.  Being  leagued  with  the  Puritan  faction  through 
mere  reveuge ;  (for  he  afterwards  became  a  violent  Inde- 
pendent, and  opposed  his  quondam  associates  Prynne 
and  Bastwick,  who  were  as  bitter  in  their  Presbyterian 
notions ;)  he  made  the  pulpit  of  St.  Matthew's  the  place 
for  vaunting  his  puritanical  extravagances,  and  became 
one  of  the  most  violent  factionists  of  his  party.  In  1624 
he  began  to  publish  his  opinions  ;  and  his  works,  which 
are  seventy  in  number,  are  enumerated  in  the  Bodleian 
Catalogue,  and  by  the  industrious  Anthony  Wood.  These 
VOL.  in  2d 


306  BURTON. 

have  in  general  the  quaint  and  ludicrous  titles  f»)r  which 
the  Puritan  rhapsodies  were  so  much  distinguished.  His 
first  work  is  "  A  censure  of  Simony,"  London,  1624. 
•2.  "A  Plea  to  an  Appeal,  traversed  Dialogue  wise,"  1626. 
3.  "  The  Baiting  of  the  Pope's  Bull,"  1627.  4.  *'  Trial  of 
Private  Devotions,  or  a  Dyal  for  the  House  of  Prayer," 
1628.  5.  "  Israel's  Fasts,"  1628.  6.  "Seven  Vials,"  1628. 
6.  "  Babel  no  Bethel,  or  the  Church  of  Rome  no  true 
visible  Church  of  Christ."  7.  "Truth's  Triumph  over 
Trent,"  1629,  &c.  &c. 

Burton  had  been  always  known  as  a  factious  zealot, 
but  it  was  not  till  the  year  1636  that  he  became  remark- 
able. On  the  5th  of  November,  he  preached  two  sermons 
in  St.  Matthew's  Church,  which  he  afterwards  published, 
entitled,  "  For  God  and  the  King,"  for  which  he  was  sum- 
moned in  December  before  the  commissioners  for  ecclesi- 
astical causes.  The  oath  being  tendered  to  him  ex  officio, 
he  refused  to  take  it,  and  appealed  to  the  King.  This 
served  him  nothing,  for  the  same  commission  soon  after 
met  at  Doctors'  Commons,  by  whom  he  w^as  suspended 
and  deprived  of  his  benefice.  He  thought  it  expedient 
aftei-  this  to  conceal  himself  in  his  own  house,  and  he 
published  his  sermons  with  an  apology. 

These  sermons  were  founded  on  Prov.  xxiv.  22,  and  are 
in  the  same  style  as  the  effusions  of  his  associates  Prynne 
and  Bastwick.  He  assails  the  Bishops,  whom,  instead  of 
fathers,  he  styles  stepfathers,  caterpillars  instead  of  pillars, 
whose  houses  are  haunted,  and  their  episcopal  chairs 
poisoned,  by  the  spirit  that  bears  rule  in  the  air.  "  They 
are,"  he  says,  "  the  limbs  of  the  beast,  even  of  Anti-ohrist, 
taking  his  very  courses  to  bear  and  beat  down  the  hearing 
of  the  word  of  God,  w^hereby  men  might  be  saved.  Their 
fear  is  more  towards  an  altar  of  their  own  invention,  an 
image  or  crucifix,  the  sound  and  syllable  of  Jesus,  than 
towards  the  Lord  Christ.  They  are  miscreants,  traps  and 
wiles  of  the  dragon  dogs ;  like  flattering  tales,  new  Babel- 
builders.     Blind  watchmen,  dumb  dogs,  thieves,  robbers 


BURTON.  SOT 

of  souls,  false  prophets,  ravening  wolves,  factors  for  Anti- 
christ, anti-christian  mush- rumps."  He  then  clamours 
about  Popery,  which  he  flatly  charges  the  Bishops  with 
attempting  to  introduce, — that  the  spirit  of  Rome  breathes 
in  them — that  they  wish  "  to  wheel  about  to  their  Roman 
mistress," — that  they  are  confederated  with  "  Priests  and 
Jesuits  to  rear  up  that  religion."  And,  therefore,  in  his 
Apology,  which  being  published  at  his  leisure,  makes  his 
sedition  or  treason  the  more  notorious,  they  are  styled 
"  jesuited  polypragmatics,  and  sons  of  Belial."  Dr.  White, 
Bishop  of  Ely,  is  charged  with  railing,  perverting,  and 
fighting  against  tiTith.  The  learned  Montague  of  Chiches- 
ter, is  "  a  tried  champion  of  Rome,  and  devoted  votary  of 
the  Queen  of  Heaven:"  Wren,  of  Norwich,  meets  with  no 
quarter  from  this  Puritan  Rabshekah;  and,  finally,  he 
falls  upon  the  Archbishop,  upon  whom  he  bestows  plenti- 
ful abuse,  and  declares,  "  that  he  had  a  papal  infallibihty 
of  spirit,  whereby,  as  by  a  divine  oracle,  all  questions  in 
religion  are  finally  determined." — "These,"  says  Heylin, 
who  quotes  numerous  other  expressions,  "  are  the  princi- 
pal flowers  of  rhetoric  which  grew  in  the  garden  of  Henry 
Burton,  sufficient,  without  doubt,  to  shew  how  sweet  a 
champion  he  was  likely  to  prove  of  the  Church  and 
Gospel." 

It  was  resolved  to  adopt  strong  measures  to  silence  Burton, 
but  the  measures  adopted,  involved  a  punishment  such  as 
has  excited  for  Burton  the  sympathy  of  many  by  whom 
his  principles  are  detested.  As  hating  arbitrary  proceed- 
ings we  do  not  attempt  a  defence  of  Charles'  government 
at  this  time,  further  than  that  which  exists  in  the  fact, 
that  all  things  against  Burton  were  conducted  according 
to  law,  and  that  the  law  rather  than  its  administrators 
ought  to  be  blamed.  Even  in  these  days  such  a  libeller 
as  Burton  would  not  be  tolerated,  although  the  spirit  by 
which  he  was  animated,  still  instigates  the  Puritan  party 
to  the  utmost  bounds  of  violence  and  falsehood  which  are 
unpunishable. 

On  the   1st  of  February,   1636-7,   a  Sergeant- at- Arms, 


308  BUETOlN. 

with  several  attendants,  having  a  warrant  frofu^'2^  which 
Chamber,  forcibly  entered  Burton's  house,  searcheu^^^ 
study,  and  carried  him  off  to  prison.  The  following  day, 
by  order  of  the  Privy  Council,  he  was  conveyed  to  the 
Fleet,  where  he  was  closely  confined  several  weeks.  Here, 
instead  of  moderating  his  conduct,  he  farther  insulted  the 
government  by  writing  "An  Epistle  to  his  Majesty," 
a  second  "to  the  Judges,"  and  a  third  to  the  "true- 
hearted  Nobiliiy."  For  these,  and  the  two  sermons  before 
mentioned,  an  information  was  laid  against  him  on  the 
11th  of  March. 

It  appears  from  Rushworth,  that  all  the  Judges  met  at 
Sergeant  s  Inn,  together  with  the  King's  Counsel,  to  con- 
sider whether  these  writings  did  not  amount  to  high 
treason.  The  Judges  agreed,  however,  in  the  absence  of 
the  Counsel,  that  nothing  could  be  high  treason,  unless 
charged  on  the  25th  Edward  III.  This  opinion  was 
delivered  by  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  to  the  King  and 
Council,  and  it  remained  undecided,  till  at  length  it  was 
resolved  to  proceed  against  them  in  the  Star-Chamber. 

After  an  interval  of  several  days,  the  cause  came  on  at 
Trinity  Term,  when  Prynne,  Bastwick,  and  Burton,  were 
severally  charged  with  "  printing  and  publishing  seditious, 
schismatical,  and  libellous  books  against  the  hierarchy  of 
the  Church,  and  to  the  scandal  of  the  government." 
Prynne,  however,  fearing,  or  pretending  to  fear,  that  they 
would  not  have  liberty  to  reply  to  the  information,  after 
having  drawn  up,  with  his  companions,  some  answers, 
which  were  in  themselves  so  scurrilous  that  no  councillor 
would  sign  them,  as  was  customary  in  the  court,  exhibited 
a  cross  information  against  the  Archbishop  and  others,  in 
which  they  were  charged  "  with  usurping  his  Majesty's 
prerogative  royal,  with  innovations  in  religion,  licensing 
of  Popish  and  Arminian  books,"  and  other  imaginary 
crimes ;  but  this  information  being  signed  solely  by  them- 
selves, it  was  refused  by  Lord  Keeper  Coventry  as  inad- 
missible. A  variety  of  exceptions  were  now  made  by  the 
defendants :   they   desired   that   they   might  have   their 


BURTON.  809 

answers  signed  with  their  own  hands,  according  to  the 
ancient  custom  of  the  court,  and  that  they  then  would 
abide  its  censure.  In  fine,  after  having  had  six  weeks 
allowed  them  to  prepare  their  answers,  and  having  neg- 
lected so  to  do,  they  were  held  as  j^ro  confessis;  and 
Burton's  obstinacy  in  particular  was  reckoned  self-convic- 
tion. On  the  14th  of  June,  sentence  was  passed  upon 
them:  Prynne,  the  most  inveterate  offender,  was  con- 
demned to  be  fined  £5000,  to  lose  the  remainder  of  his 
ears  in  the  pillory,  to  be  branded  in  both  cheeks  with  the 
initials  of  Slanderous  Libeller,  and  to  be  imprisoned  for 
life  in  Carnarvon  Castle.  Bastwick  and  Burton  were 
sentenced  to  pay  the  same  fine,  and  were  to  lose  their 
ears  in  the  pillory,  to  be  imprisoned,  the  one  in  Laun- 
ceston  and  the  other  in  Lancaster  Castle.  Prynne  and 
Bastwick  had  already  been  degraded  in  their  several  pro- 
fessions ;  Burton  was  also  degraded  from  the  ministerial 
functions,  his  benefice  forfeited,  his  degrees  at  the  univer- 
sity rescinded,  writing  materials  were  prohibited  to  him, 
and  he  was  to  have  no  communication  with  any  individual 
except  his  jailor. 

Archbishop  Laud  has  been  accused  by  Sectarians  of 
having  borne  the  principal  part  in  these  proceedings,  but 
it  is  clearly  shewn  by  Mr.  Lawson,  that  -because  he  was 
personally  attacked,  he  refused  to  vote  when  sentence  was 
pronounced;  "Because,"  said  he,  at  his  speech  on  the 
occasion,  "  the  business  hath  some  relation  to  myself, 
I  shall  forbear  to  censure  them,  and  leave  them  to  God's 
mercy  and  the  King's  justice." 

On  Friday  the  30th  of  June,  the  three  libellers  under- 
went their  sentence.  The  sentence  upon  Burton  on 
account  of  his  profession  as  a  Puritan  preacher  was 
exceedingly  unpopular.  At  his  punishment  there  was 
great  murmuring  among  the  spectators.  He  made  a  very 
long  speech,  extremely  incoherent,  and  abounding  in 
rhapsodies,  the  chief  design  of  which  was  to  establish  a 
parallel  between  his  sufferings  and  those  of  our  Saviour. 
'2d  -2 


310  BURTON. 

There  were  three  pillories  set  up,  and  his  happened  to  be 
in  the  centre  ;  before  he  was  brought  out,  looking  from  the 
apartment  into  the  Palace- Yard,  he  said,  "Methinks  I  see 
Mount  Calvary,  where  the  three  crosses,  one  for  Christ, 
and  the  other  two  for  the  two  thieves,  were  pitched,"  This 
was  the  height  of  enthusiasm  :  here  he  compares  himself 
to  Christ  in  language  bordering  on  profaneness  :   his  allu- 
sions, however,  to  the  two  other  pillories,  crosses,  in  his 
opinion,  destined,  in  his  religious  allegory,  for  the  two 
thieves,  was  no  great  compliment  to  his  two  associates  in 
suffering,  Bastvvick  and  Prynne,  more  especially  if  we  ob- 
serve his  farther  expressions,  "  If  Christ,"  said  he,  "  was 
numbered  among  thieves,  shall  a  Christian  for  Christ's  sake, 
think  much  to  be  numbered  among  rogues,  such  as  we  are 
condemned  to  be  ?      Surely,  if  I  be  a  rogue,  I  am  Christ's 
rogue,    and   no   man's."     Turning  to  his  wife,  he  said, 
"Wife,  why  art  thou  so  sad?" — *'  Sweetheart,"   replied 
she,  "  I  am  not  sad." — "  No,"  said  he,  "  see  thou  be  not ; 
for  I  would  not  have  thee  dishonour  this  day  by  shedding 
one  tear,  or  fetching  one  sigh ;  for  behold  there,   for  thy 
comfort,   my  triumphing  chariot,    on  the   which  I  must 
ride,  for  the  honour  of  my  Lord  and  Master.     And  never 
was  my  wedding  day  so  welcome  and  joyful  as  this.     And 
so  much  the  more,  because  I  have  such  a  noble  captain 
and  leader,  who  hath  gone  before  me  with  such  undaunt- 
ed  courage,  that  he  saith  of  himself,  '  I  gave  my  back  to 
the  smiters,  my  cheeks  to  the  scoffers,  they  pluckt  off  the 
hair.     I  hide  not  my  face  from  shame  and  spitting,'  for 
the  Lord  God  will  help  me.' "    When  he  was  put  into  the 
pillory,  he  exclaimed,  "  shall  I  be   ashamed  of  a  pillory 
for  Christ,  who  was  not  ashamed  of  a  cross  for  me  ?    Good 
people,  1  am  brought  hither  to  be  a  spectacle  to  the  world, 
to  angels,  and  men,  and  howsoever  I  stand  here  to  under- 
go the  punishment  of  a  rogue,  yet,  except  to  be  a  faithful 
servant  to  Christ,  and  a  loyal  subject  to  the  King,  be  the 
property  of  a  rogue,  I  am  no  rogue.     I  glory  in  it."     A 
bee  happening  to  alight  on  a  nosegay  he  held  in  his  hand, 


BURTON.  311 

"  Do  you  not  see  this  poor  bee?"  he  exclaimed,  "  It  hath 
found  out  this  very  place  to  suck  sweetness  from  these 
flowers,  and  cannot  /  suck  sweetness  from  Christ?"'  He 
then  proceeded  in  a  strain  of  enthusiasm  to  compare 
himself  with  Jesus  Christ.  One  asked  him  if  the  pillory 
werexuot  uneasy  for  his  neck  and  shoulder.  "  How  can 
Christ's  yoke  be  uneasy,"  he  replied  :  "  this  is  Christ's 
yoke,  and  he  bears  the  heavier  end  of  it."  At  another 
time,  on  calling  for  a  handkerchief,  he  said,  "It  is  hot, 
but  Christ  bore  the  burden  in  the  heat  of  the  day."  With 
numbers  of  his  friends  he  held  conversation,  who  seem  to 
have  been  all  imbued  with  the  same  enthusiasm,  and  to 
have  exulted  in  his  extravagant  expressions.  One  of  the 
guards  had  a  rusty  halberd,  the  iron  of  which  was  fixed 
to  the  staff  with  an  old  crooked  nail.  "  What  an  old 
rusty  halberd  is  that,"  exclaimed  one  :  to  which  Burton 
replied,  "This  seems  to  me  to  be  one  of  those  halberds 
which  accompanied  Judas  when  he  went  to  betray  his 
Master."  A  friend  asked  him,  if  he  would  have  gladly 
dispensed  with  his  suffering,  "  No,  not  for  a  world,"  was 
his  reply. 

After  their  sentence-,  those  three  unfortunate  men  were 
removed  to  prison.  Prynne,  on  the  27th  of  July,  was 
sent  to  Mount  Orgueil  Castle,  in  the  Island  of  Jersey, 
where  he  continued  till  he  v*as  released  by  the  Long 
Parliament  in  1640.  Bastwick  was  sent  to  St.  Mary's 
Castle,  in  the  Island  of  Scilly,  and  Burton  to  Cormet 
Castle,  in  Guernsey.  They  both  remained  prisoners  till 
the  same  period,  when  they  were  released  by  the  said 
Parliament ;  their  sentence  reversed  ;  reparation  and  da- 
mages awarded  to  them  for  their  punishments,  and  £5000 
voted  to  Bastwick,  and  £6000  to  Burton,  out  of  the  estates 
of  the  Archbishop,  the  Bishop  of  London,  the  Earl  of 
Arundell,  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  Sir  Henry  Vane,  Sir 
John  Cook,  and  Sir  Francis  Windebank,  who  had  all 
signed  the  warrant  in  the  Star- Chamber.  The  ensuing 
disasters,  however,  prevented  the  payment  of  the  money. 

He  was,  however,  restored  to  his  living  of  St.  Matthew's, 


3ia  BURTON. 

after  which  he  declared  himself  an  Independent,  and 
complied  with  the  alterations  that  ensued  ;  but,  according 
to  Wood,  when  he  saw  to  what  extravagant  lengths  the 
parliament  went,  he  grew  more  moderate,  and  afterwards 
fell  out  with  his  fellow-sufferers,  Prynne  and  Bastwick, 
and  with  Mr.  Edmund  Calamy.  He  wrote  many  contro- 
versial and  abusive  pamphlets.  He  died  Jan.  7,  1648. 
Wood.  PiUshworth.  Neal.  Heylms  Life  of  Laud,  and 
Lawsons  Life  of  Laud. 


BUETON,    JOHN. 

John  Burton  was  born  in  1696,  at  Wenbworthy,  in 
Devonshire,  and  educated  at  Okehampton  in  that  county, 
after  which  he  studied  some  time  under  Mr.  Samuel 
Bentham  at  Ely,  and  in  1733  removed  to  Corpus  Christi 
College,  Oxford.  Here  he  was  appointed  a  college  tutor,  and 
read  a  Greek  lecture,  when  he  was  only  Bachelor  of  Arts. 
In  1720  he  took  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  and  in  1729 
that  of  B.D.  In  1733  he  was  elected  fellow  of  Eton  Col- 
lege, and  about  the  same  time  obtained  the  vicarage  of 
Maple-Derham  in  Oxfordshire,  where  he  married  the 
widow  of  his  predecessor,  Dr.  Edward  Littleton,  though 
she  was  wholly  unprovided  for,  and  had  three  daughters, 
whom  he  regarded  as  his  own.  In  1752  he  took  his 
Doctor's  Degree,  and  in  1766  was  presented  to  the  rectory 
of  Worplesdon  in  Surrey.  At  the  close  of  his  life  he  col- 
lected his  scattered  pieces  under  the  title  of  Opuscula 
Miscellanea.  On  the  death  of  his  wife,  in  1748,  he  resided 
chiefly  at  Eton,  giving  himself  up  to  literature  and  the 
exercise  of  that  hospitality,  which  rendered  his  house 
equally  acceptable  to  the  young  and  old  who  merited  his 
regard.  Having  taken  a  decided  part  against  Wilkes  he 
was  bitterly  attacked  by  Churchill,  who  describes  his  style 
as  full  of  trick  and  awkward  affectation,  and  says,  that 

"  So  dull  his  thoughts,  yet  pliant  in  their  growth, 
They're  verse  or  prose,  are  neither  or  are  both-'" 


BURTON.  313 

On  the  Sunday  before  his  death,  which  was  hastened  by 
an  attack  of  erysipelas,  he  sent,  according  to  custom,  for 
some  of  the  most  promising  boys  of  the  school,  and  after 
supper  discoursed  with  more  than  usual  perspicuity  and 
elegance,  on  some  important  subject  of  divinity,  and  after 
a  gentle  sleep  breathed  his  last,  on  February  11,  1771, 
aged  seventy-six.  His  works  consist  of  two  volumes  of 
sermons,  and  his  dissertation  on  Samuel  contains  some 
curious  observations  on  the  schools  of  the  Prophets 
amongst  the  Israelites.  To  these  must  be  added  his 
Opuscula  Miscellan.  Theolog.,  and  Opusc.  Miscell.  Metrico 
Prosaica,  a  portion  of  which,  under  the  title  of  Sacerdos 
Parochialis  Rusticus,  was  translated,  in  1800,  by  the 
Rev.  Davis  Warren.  In  1744  appeared  his  Genuineness 
of  Lord  Clarendon's  History,  in  refutation  of  the  slanders 
of  Oldmixon,  in  his  Critical  History  of  England  ;  and  in 
1766  he  published  his  Papists  and  Pharisees  compared, 
&c.,  as  an  antidote  to  Phillip's  Life  of  Cardinal  Pole;  and 
about  the  same  time  he  preached  a  series  of  sermons  to 
refute  the  articles  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  His  name  as 
a  scholar  is  mixed  up  with  an  edition  of  the  Pentalogia, 
subsequently  reprinted  by  T.  Burgess;  but  the  work  was 
merely  brought  out  at  his  expense  in  honour  of  his  pupil, 
Joseph  Bingham,  through  whose  early  death  it  had  been 
left  unfinished. 

The  university  of  Oxford  was  much  indebted  to  him  for 
his  exertions  in  promoting  discipline,  and  particularly  for 
his  attention  to  the  Clarendon  press. — De  vita  et  moribus 
Johannis  Burtoni  by  Dr.  Edward  Bentham.  Nichols  s  Life 
of  Boicyer. 


BURTON,  EGBERT. 

Robert  Burton  was  born  at  Lindley,  in  Leicestershire, 
in  1576.  He  was  the  younger  brother  of  the  Leicester 
antiquary,  and  was  educated  at  Sutton-Coldfield ;  after 
which   he   became    a  commoner  of    Brazenose    College, 


8U  BUS. 

Oxford,  from  whence  he  removed  to  Christ  Church,  on 
being  elected  to  a  studentship.  In  1614  he  took  his  degree 
of  B.  D.,  and  in  1616  was  presented  to  the  vicarage  of 
St.  Thomas,  in  Oxford,  to  which  was  afterwards  added  the 
rectory  of  Segrave,  in  Leicestershire.  Wood's  character 
of  him  is,  that  "he  was  an  exact  mathematician,  a  curious 
calculator  of  nativities,  a  general  read  scholar,  a  thorough- 
paced philologist,  and  one  that  understood  the  surveying 
of  lands  well.  As  he  was  by  many  accounted  a  severe  stu- 
dent, a  devourer  of  authors,  a  melancholy  and  humorous 
person ;  so  by  others,  who  knew  him  well,  a  person  of  great 
honesty,  plain  dealing,  and  charity.  I  have  heard  some  of 
the  ancients  of  Christ  Church  often  say,  that  his  company 
was  very  merry,  facete,  and  juvenile :  and  no  man  in  his 
time  did  surpass  him  for  his  ready  and  dexterous  inter- 
larding his  common  discourses  among  them  with  verses 
from  the  poets  and  sentences  from  the  classic  authors, 
which,  being  all  the  fashion,  made  his  company  the  more 
acceptable."  Burton  was  an  hypochondriac,  and  much 
given  to  astrology.  He  died  in  1639-40,  and  was  buried 
in  Christ  Church.  His  "  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,"  was 
printed  first  in  4to.,  and  afterwards  in  folio.  It  is  a  store- 
house of  learning  on  all  kinds  of  subjects,  intermingled 
with  quaint  observations  and  witty  illustrations,  from 
which  several  modern  writers  have  drawn  amply,  without 
acknowledgment.  Among  these  wholesale  plagiaries, 
Sterne  was  the  most  barefaced,  and  the  best  of  his  pathetic, 
as  well  as  humorous  passages,  are  literally  copied  from 
Burton. — Wood,  Athen.  Oxon.  Ferriers  Illustrations  of 
Sterne. 


BUS,    CiESAR    DE. 

C^SAR  DE  Bus,  founder  of  a  religious  order,  called 
Priests,  or  Fathers  of  the  Christian  doctrine,  was  born  of 
a  noble  family  at  Cavaillon,  in  1544.  He  at  first  cul- 
tivated poetry,  and  gave  himself  up  to  a  life  of  pleasure ; 


BUSBY.  315 

but  he  afterwards  reformed,  lived  in  a  most  exemplary 
manner,  took  orders,  and  travelled  from  place  to  place, 
administering  the  right  of  confession,  and  catechising. 
His  zeal  having  procured  him  many  disciples,  he  formed 
them  into  a  society,  whose  principal  duty  was  to  teach  what 
they  called  the  Christian  doctrine.  Pope  Clement  VIII. 
gave  his  approbation  to  the  establishment  of  this  society 
in  1597,  and  in  the  following  year  appointed  De  Bus 
general  of  it.  He  had  also  some  share  in  establishing  the 
Ursulines  of  France.  He  lost  his  sight  about  fourteen 
years  before  his  death,  which  took  place  at  Avignon,  in 
1607.  He  left  only  a  book  of  instructions,  drawn  up  for 
his  society,  called  Instructions  familiares  sur  les  quatre 
parties  de  la  Doctrine  Chretienne,  1G56,  8vo. — Moreri. 
Moshehn. 

BCSBY,    EICHAED. 

Richard  Busby  was  born  at  Lutton,  in  Lincolnshire, 
September  22,  1606  ;  and  after  receiving  his  education  as 
a  king's  scholar  at  Westminster,  was  elected  a  student  of 
Christ  Church,  Oxford,  where  he  took  his  B.A.  degree 
October  21,  1628,  and  M.A.  January  18,  1631 ;  but  as  he 
was  too  poor  to  pay  the  fees,  the  vestiy  of  St.  Margaret's, 
Westminster,  voted  him  £11.  13s.  4d.,  which  he  not  only 
repaid  afterwards,  but  added  to  it  an  annual  sum  for  the 
support  of  the  parish  school.  In  1631  he  obtained  a  pre- 
bendal  stall  in  Wells  cathedral,  the  income  of  which  he 
lost  during  the  civil  war.  In  1638  or  1640,  for  authorities 
differ,  he  became  head-master  of  Westminster  school, 
and  continued  so  for  fifty-five  years ;  and  used  to  boast 
that  at  one  time  sixteen  out  of  the  whole  bench  of  bishops 
had  been  his  pupils. 

Mr.  Darnell,  in  his  life  of  Dr.  Basire,  has  published 
three  private  letters  of  this  great  and  good  man  which 
exhibit  his  character  in  an  amiable  pi.-int  of  view.  As 
Mr.  Darnell  observes,  there  was  something  eminently 
social  as  well  as  practical  in  the  religion  of  this  period. 


316  BUSBY. 

Friends  strengthened  each  other  in  sphit,  and  drew  their 
own  union  closer  by  urging  their  mutual  wants  to  the 
throne  of  grace.  It  had  not  yet  become  a  matter  of  form 
only  for  Christians  to  request  each  others  prayers — the 
intermediate  step  towards  that  oblivion  of  the  duty  of  in- 
tercession, which  seems  to  prevail  so  generally. 

"To  the  Bight  WorshijTfull  my  very  ivorthy  friend 
Dr.  Basire,  at  Eaglesdiffe  in  the  Bishoprick  of  Dur- 
ham  these. 

**  Dear  Friend, 

"  I  REJOICE  with  you  at  your  safe  arrival.  Since  your 
departure  I  have  taken  your  counsel  as  to  the  country 
air,  and  find  the  blessing  of  it.  And  that  you  may  know 
me  to  be  very  regardful  of  your  direction,  I  make  haste 
again  to  obey  the  advice  of  your  letters,  and  write  now 
this  my  answer  booted.  The  friendly  esteem  which  you 
are  pleased  to  have  of  me,  (truly  very  unworthy  of  your 
consideration,  especially  of  your  love,)  obligeth  me  to 
make  my  acknowledgments  of  it  before  God,  and  to 
beseech  Him  that  he  would  repay  you  with  His  all. suffi- 
cient plentitude,  for  that  portion  which  you  vouchsafe  me 
of  your  much  beloved  self.  Sir,  you  have  made  an  indeli- 
ble impression  of  your  merit  in  me,  which  I  shall  pre- 
serve with  the  same  fidehty  I  do  your  goods ;  and  I 
heartily  intreat  you  to  retain  me,  a  most  empty  name, 
meritissimam  sarcinam,  in  your  memory  and  devotion. 
I  remember  your  expression  of  Jacob's  staff  in  your  part- 
ing note  ;  and  I  assure  you  that  I  esteem  your  fervent  and 
assiduous  prayers  to  be  both  a  Jacob's  staff  and  ladder  to 
support  and  elevate  a  feeble  and  sinful  soul — sic  enim 
Jacobus,  "  the  prayers  of  the  faithful  avail  much."  I 
would  heartily  wish  that  you  were  sensible  of  that  sweet- 
ness, that  religiosissimum  mel,  which  I  find  in  my  heart, 
a  tui  nominis  recordatione  favos  luxuriosissime  degustans; 
then  you  would  believe  these  words  faint  symbols,  not 
fnirid  globes,  of  a  heart  devotedly  yours. 


BUSBY.  S17 

"  No  news  but  what  you  may  read  or  spell  out  of  the 
orders  enclosed — only  this — the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  rides 
his  visitation,  and  begins  in  October:  and  for  security  he 
hath  an  order  from  the  Lords  at  his  own  motion.  The 
Bishop  hath  not  yet  left  us  at  Westminster;  remaining 
still  alone  of  all  the  Bishops ;  a  stout  defendant  of  his 
order  and  discipline;  not  without  the  envy,  hatred,  and 
broad  censures  of  the  people.  Pray  for  the  church  as  it 
concerns  us  all ;  and  pray  for  me. 

"  Yours,  animiter 

"  Richard  Busby. 

**  My  service  to  your  virtuous  bedfellow.  Child  is  very 
well." 

The  second  letter  is  a  short  one,  and  concludes  thus  : — 
*•  Good  Sir,  help  me  to  present  my  humble  thanks  to 
your  religious  family  for  all  your  goodness  towards  me, 
specially  Sursum :  and  I  heartily  request  you  and  yours 
not  to  cease,  through  my  nnworthiness,  so  still  to  oblige 
your  most  obt.  servant,  R.  B."  The  third  letter  was 
written  when  the  hearts  of  all  good  men  were  full  of 
trouble. 

Dr.  Bushy  to  Dr.  Basire. 

**  Reverend  and  dear  sir, 

'*  My  omission  of  L'rs,  so  much  due,  may  justly  deserve 
your  complaint :  which,  that  I  may  expiate,  I  desire  your 
friendly  iniilt.  There  may  appear  in  me  defect  of  words, 
but  not  of  will  or  deed,  for  your  service  :  and  it  is  your 
favour  to  require  and  accept  my  rudeness  of  speech  so  as 
to  signify  the  want.  But  who  could  be  silent  to  such  a 
friend  !  whose  commerce  is  so  precious.  It  is  sufficient 
loss  to  me  that  I  have  retarded  your  hand,  which  other- 
wise would  have  been  more  frequent  in  writing.  Let  not 
this  be  my  punishment,  to  suffer  your  silence  for  mine. 
Rather  rebuke  me  as  you  have  done  by  your  L'rs  sweetly, 
and  help  me  to  procure  pardon  by  your  prayers,  as  you 
VOL.  III.  2e 


318  BUSBY. 

do  daily.  Ah,  friend !  Never  more  need  of  wrestlings  witb 
God,  and  woe  is  me,  that  I  acknowledge  it  rather  than 
practice  it.  A  dead  numbness  hath  these  many  years 
fallen  upon  my  spirits,  as  upon  the  nation:  join  with  me 
in  the  versicle,  Ps.  13,  '  0  Lord  my  God,  lighten  mine 
eyes  that  I  sleep  not  in  death.'  All  things  at  this  time 
are  in  so  dubious  a  calm,  that  the  fear  is  greatest  when 
the  danger  is  less  visible.  Oh,  that  after  this  fluctuation 
of  things,  any  hope  of  settlement  were,  that  we  might  com- 
fort our  souls  in  the  issue,  if  bad  with  patience,  if  good 
with  joy.  But  a  wiser  pilot  than  I  cannot  foresee  any  cer- 
tainty of  the  event :  and  a  tedious  expectation  wearies  the 
minds  of  all  them,  who  are  not  strong  in  the  Lord.  And 
it  would  be  a  great  solace  to  me,  if  in  this  blind  condition 
of  things  I  might  but  enjoy  the  sight  of  you,  for  whose 
exile  I  have  reason  to  mourn.  I  pray,  Sir,  assist  my 
ardent  desires  of  lessening  your  captivity,  by  showing  me 
the  means  whereby  I  am  able.  Discover  unto  me,  what  I 
may  do,  more,  than  desire  to  do,  for  you.  Money!  what 
I  cau,  I  would  send  ;  and  of  this  my  will,  my  deed  may 
be  the  true  interpreter ;  but  your  modesty  permits  me  not 
to  enlarge  myself.  'Tis  true,  I  abound  not ;  but  I  beseech 
you,  let  me  not  suffer  you  to  want  in  necessaries.  At  my 
request  Sir  Wm.  Godolphin  undertook  to  make  the  place  of 
your  abode  comfortable  to  you  by  his  friends  there  with 
you ;  and  for  this  office  and  benefit  I  have  engaged  myself 
by  way  of  commutation  in  his  son,  a  pledge  with  me. 
What  hath  been  done,  more  than  the  return  of  that  my 
token  (whereof  you  acknowledged  the  receipt  long  since)  I 
know  not,  but  desire  to  learn  from  you  by  your  next. 
Travellers  into  your  parts  there  are  yet  none,  whom  I  would 
present  to  your  acquaintance.  Mr.  Thurscrosse  is  again 
settled  in  Yorkshire :  Mr.  Ferrar  with  his  family  at  Gidden, 
long  since  Mr.  Mapletiffe  hath  a  good  living.  All  remem- 
ber you  the  Joseph  in  affliction.  I  intend  to  pass  the 
month  August  in  progress  for  the  recovering  of  my  health 
and  strength,  if  it  so  please  God,  for  I  am  wearied  and 


BUSBY.  319 

wasted  with  phjsick,  your  prayers  have  (I  believe)  much 
contributed  to  my  preservation  in  my  great  infirmities  and 
perils.     For  which  I  beseech  you  still  oblige, 

"  Your  most  affectionate. 

"R.  B/- 

We  have  an  interesting  account  also  of  Dr.  Busby  in  the 
letter  of  Isaac  Basire  to  his  father  Dr.  Basire,  in  1065. 

"I.  H.  S. 
•'  Isaac  Basire  to  Dr.  Basire. 
"  Reverend  Sir, 

"  At  Cambridge  I  was  on  the  4th  of  this  instant,  when 
I  received  both  yours  dated  the  last  week:  within  two 
hours  of  the  receipt  I  set  forward  for  London  :  I  have  left 
tlie  chief  of  my  business  at  Cambridge  undone,  as  my  own 
exeat,  my  Bro.  Ch.  settlement,  and  a  chamber  for  him,  ray 
Br.  P.  admission,  &c.,  all  which  will  cost  me  a  journey  back 
for  two  or  three  days. 

"  Yours  to  Dr.  Busby,  then  very  busy,  I  delivered  in  my 
riding  habit,  that  to  Mr.  Sayer  (who  entertains  me  with  a 
great  deal  of  civility  and  thankfulness)  on  the  6th  of  May; 
to  my  Lord  of  Winchester  and  Mr.  Eyles,  I  presented 
theirs  the  same  day ;  my  Lord  Grace  of  Canterbury  was 
then  in  the  room  :  as  sooq  as  my  lord  had  read  your 
letter,  his  lordship  told  me  he  would  not  write  then,  (I 
heard  they  were  going  to  sit  in  council,  and  the  French 
ambassador  had  public  audience  that  day)  but  appointed 
me  to  come  and  receive  the  answer  to-morrow  morning, 
betwixt  seven  and  eight. 

"  Mr.  Durell  is  at  Windsor,  and  will  not  be  in  town  till 
next  week.  Mr.  Sayer  can  procure  me  a  bill  of  exchange 
payable  in  France,  so  that  I  shall  need  but  as  many  livres 
as  I  shall  need  in  France  till  my  bill  be  paid. 

"  Yesterday  I  was  with  Dr.  Busby ;  in  these  words  he 
gives  my  brothers  a  character,  they  are  industrious  and 
good  children,  that  my  Br.  Ch.  has  learning,  and  is  much 
improved  since  his  coming  up,  and  that  very  many  not  so 
good  scholars  as  he  are  gone  from  his  school  to  the  univer- 


820  BUSBY. 

sity.  The  Dr.  will  not  promise  that  he  is  so  exquisite  and 
every  way  qualified  as  you  desire.  His  advice  is,  {you 
know  very  well  his  way  and  humour,)  that  you  should  call 
him  down  to  you  to  try  yourself  and  to  give  him  your  in- 
structions (which  may  be  done,  as  to  me  it  was  by  letter) 
for  his  behaviour  and  studies  in  the  university.  The 
Dr.  gave  me  his  benediction  when  I  took  my  leave,  and 
desired  me  to  sup  with  him  and  our  D.  of  Durham  this 
night,  (whom  I  have  w^aited  on  yesterday  morning).  If 
Dr.  Busby  say  no  more  concerning  my  brother  I  will  follow 
your  former  instructions,  and  take  him  to  Cambridge  and 
admit  him ;  from  thence  if  you  please  (which  I  hope  you 
need  not)  you  may  send  for  him  to  you. 

"  By  the  next  you  will  receive  my  Lord  Bishop's  answer 
and  an  account  of  what  I  could  not  dispatch  by  this.     I 
humbly  beg  yonr  good  prayers  for  prosperity  in  all   our 
undertakings  and  for  a  blessing  upon, 
"  Sir, 

"Your  dutiful  son, 

Isaac  Basiee. 
"Westminster,  May  7,  1665. 

*'  P.S.  You  may  please  to  direct  yours  at  my  brother's 
lodgings  here." 

During  the  usurpation  of  Cromwell  he  was  removed  by 
the  tyranny  of  ruling  powers  from  his  situation,  to  make 
room  for  the  second  master,  Bagshaw,  who  was  a  hot  dis- 
senter and  republican ;  but  he  was  reinstated  at  the  Resto- 
ration. In  1660  he  obtained  a  prebendal  stall  in  West- 
minster, and  was  made  treasurer  and  canon  residentiary 
of  Wells  ;  and  at  the  coronation  of  Charles  II.  he  carried 
the  ampulla,  containing  the  oil  of  consecration.  From  the 
inscription  on  his  monument,  it  appears  that,  as  a  school- 
master, he  possessed  the  happy  art  of  discovering  the 
latent  seeds  of  talent  in  his  pupils,  and  the  still  greater 
power  of  bringing  them  forward ;  while  he  felt  as  a  wealthy 
pluralist,  that  riches  were  showered  upon  him  only  to 
enable  him  to  relieve  the  poor,  and  to  encourage  men  of 
learning,  and  for  the  promotion  of  piety.     His  disciplina 


BUSBY.  321 

was  severe,  and  he  used  to  declare  that  a  rod  was  his  sieve ; 
and  that  whosoever  could  not  pass  through  it,  was  no  boy 
for  him — an  obsei-vation  verified  in  the  case  of  Dr.  South ; 
of  whom,  when  young,  he  observed,  "  I  can  see  great  talents 
in  that  sulky  boy,  and  will  bring  them  out  with  my  rod." 
But  notwithstandiug  his  rigid  discipline,  he  contrived  to 
gain  the  love  of  his  pupils  ;  who  could  scarcely  fail  to  ad- 
mire the  independence  of  their  master,  who,  when  the  King 
entered  his  school-room,  did  not  condescend  to  take  off  his 
hat ;  observing  afterwards  to  some  of  the  suite,  that  a 
master  should  appear  as  great  a  sovereign  in  his  school,  as 
the  King  did  at  court.  Of  his  numerous  benefactions  done 
in  secret,  no  record  has  been  presei-ved ;  but  it  is  known  that 
he  gave  £"250  to  the  funds  required  to  repair  the  chapel  of 
his  college,  and  another  sum  for  that  of  Lichfield  cathedral. 
He  offered  to  found  a  lectureship  of  £100  per  annum  at 
each  university,  for  instructing  the  under-graduates  in 
the  rudiments  of  the  Christian  religion ;  but  the  offer  was 
rejected,  because  it  was  accompanied  with  stipulations 
supposed  to  be  inconsistent  with  their  statutes.  He  died  at 
the  advanced  age  of  eighty -nine,  April  6th,  169-5,  without 
experiencing  any  of  the  evils  which  length  of  years  seldom 
fail  to  bring,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey.  A  list 
of  his  publications,  which  are  merely  elementai7  works,  or 
school  editioDs.  is  given  in  a  note  in  the  Biog.  Britan. : 
but  some  of  them  are  supposed  by  Wood,  in  his  Athense 
Oxonienses,  to  have  been  got  up  by  Busby's  assistants  : 
a  remark  that  appears  the  more  probable,  as  it  has  been 
said  that  he  never  allowed  notes  upon  any  classical  authors 
read  in  his  school. —  Wood.  Gent.  Mag.  Ixv.  Darnell's 
Basire.     Seward's  Anecdotes. 

BUSH,    PAUL. 

Paul  Bush  was  born  in  ]  490.     He  became  a  student  at 

the  university  of  Oxford  about  1513,  and  five  years  after 

took  the  degree  of  B.A.,  being  then,   according  to  Wood, 

numbered  among  the  celebrated  poets  of  the  university. 

2e  2 


S2a  BUTLER. 

He  afterwards  became  a  brother  of  the  order  called  Bon- 
lioms,  and,  after  studying  some  time  among  the  friars  of 
St.  Austin,  now  Wadham  College,  he  was  elected  provin- 
cial of  his  order  at  Edington  in  Wiltshire,  and  canon  of 
Salisbury.  In  process  of  time  he  was  appointed  chap- 
lain to  King  Henry  VII Ith,  and  when  that  Monarch 
founded  the  see  of  Bristol  he  was  elected  the  first  Bishop 
thereof,  being  consecrated  at  Hampton  on  the  '^Sth  of 
June,  1542.  He  was  deposed  on  the  accession  of  Mary,  as 
a  married  Bishop,  and  died  in  1558. — Wood.    Stnjpe. 


BUTLER,    JOSEPH. 

Joseph  Butler,  a  celebrated  saint,  of  whom  the 
Church  of  England  may  justly  boast,  though  by  puritans, 
and  worse  than  puritans,  by  rationalists,  he  was  accused 
in  his  day  of  Popery,  was  born  at  Wantage,  in  Berkshire, 
in  1692.  His  father,  Mr.  Thomas  Butler,  was  a  reputable 
shopkeeper  in  that  town,  of  the  Presbyterian  persuasion, 
and  had  determined  to  educate  him  for  the  Presbyterian 
ministry.  With  this  view,  after  young  Butler  had  gone 
through  a  course  of  grammatical  literature,  at  the  free 
grammar  school  of  his  native  place,  under  the  care  of  the 
Rev.  Philip  Barton,  he  was  sent  to  a  dissenting  academy 
at  Gloucester,  under  the  superintendance  of  a  Mr.  Jones, 
who  shortly  after  removed  with  his  students  to  Tewkes- 
bury, where  he  had  for  pupils  three  young  men,  whose 
original  destination  was  the  Presbyterian  ministry,  but 
who  afterwards  became  prelates  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land— Chandler,  Seeker,  and  Butler;  of  these  the  two 
latter  were  contemporaries.  It  was  during  his  residence  at 
Tewkesbury,  and  when  only  in  his  twenty-second  year, 
that  Butler  discovered  that  taste  for  metaphysical  specu- 
lation, and  that  severe  accuracy  of  judgment,  for  which  he 
has  since  been  distinguished  throughout  the  world.  An 
examination  of  the  argument  a  prion  employed  by 
Dr.  Samuel  Clarke,  in  his  celebrated  Demonstration  of 


BUTLER.  328 

the  Being  and  Attributes  of  God,  suggested  to  the  mind 
of  Butler  certain  doubts  and  difficulties,  which  he  ven- 
tured to  state,  with  becoming  modesty,  in  an  anonymous 
communication  to  Clarke. 

He  commenced  the  first  of  these  letters,  which  is  dated 
Nov.  4,  1713,  by  remarking  that  he  had  "made   it  his 
business,  ever  since  he  thought  himself  capable  of  such 
sort  of  reasoning,  to  prove  to  himself  the  being  and  attri- 
butes of  God ;"  that,  "  being  sensible  that  it  is  a  matter  of 
the  last  consequence,  he  endeavoured  after  a  demonstra- 
tive proof,   not  only  more  fully  to  satisfy  his  own  mind, 
but  also  in  order  to  defend  the  great  truths  of  natural 
reHgion,   and   those   of  the    Chiistian   revelation,  which 
follow  from  them,  against  all  opposers."     He  expresses 
his  "  concern,  that  hitherto  he  has  been  unsuccesful ;   for 
although    he   had  got  very  probable  arguments,   yet  he 
could  go  but  a  very  little  way  with  demonstration  in  the 
proof  of  those  things."     He  refers  to  the  hope  he   had 
entertained,  of  having  all  his  enquiries  answered,  by  the 
peiiisal  of  the  work  published  by  his  learned  correspond- 
ent,  entitled  A  Demonstration  of  the   Being  and  Attri- 
butes of  God  ;  but  adds,  that  "  even  that  had  failed  him."' 
He  then  proceeds  to  state  the  difficulties  which  arose  in 
his    mind,    in    connexion    with    Proposition    6,    where 
Dr.    Clarke   proposes   to   prove,  "  the  infinity  or   omni- 
presence of  the   Self-existent  Being;"'  observing,    "The 
former  part  of  the  proof  seems  highly  probable ;  but  the 
latter  part,  which  seems  lo  aim  at  demonstration,  is  not  to 
me  convincing."     The  cogency  and  depth  of  thought  con- 
tained  in   Butlers   arguments,    and   the    modesty   with 
which  they  were  proposed,   attracted  the  attention  of  the 
distinguished  person  to  whom  they  were  submitted,  and 
he  commenced  his  reply,  dated  Nov.  10,  in  the  following 
manner:   "Did  men  who   publish   controversial  papers, 
accustom   themselves    to   write    with   that   candour   and 
ingenuity  with  which  you  propose  your  difficulties,  1  am 
persuaded  almost  all   disputes  might  be  very  amicably 
terminated,  either  by  men's  coming  at  last  to  agree  in 


3-24  BUTLER. 

opinion,  or  at  finding  reason  to  suffer  each  other  friendly 
to  differ.  Your  two  objections  are  veiy  ingenious,  and 
urged  with  great  strength  and  acuteness ;  yet  I  am  not 
without  hopes  of  being  able  to  give  you  satisfaction  in 
both  of  them."  The  letter  concludes  with  this  remark  : 
'•  If  any  thing  still  sticks  with  you  in  this  or  any  other 
part  of  my  books,  I  shall  be  very  willing  to  be  informed  of 
it." 

This  correspondence  extends  to  five  letters  on  each 
side.  Butler  opens  the  second,  by  saying,  "  I  have  often 
thought  that  the  chief  occasions  of  men's  differing  so 
much  in  their  opinions,  were,  either  their  not  under- 
standing each  other  ;  or  else,  that  instead  of  ingenuously 
searching  after  truth,  they  have  made  it  their  business  to 
find  out  arguments  for  the  proof  of  what  they  have  once 
asserted."  I  am  sorry  I  must  tell  you,  your  answ^ers  to 
my  objections  are  not  satisfactory.  The  reasons  why  I 
think  them  not  so,  are  as  follow,"  &:c.  Dr.  Clarke,  with 
much  courtesy,  replied  to  these  reasons,  but  without  con- 
vincing Butler's  mind  ;  who  thus  concludes  his  rejoinder : 
"  I  am  so  far  from  being  pleased  that  I  can  form  objec- 
tions to  your  arguments,  that  besides  the  satisfaction  it 
would  have  given  me  in  my  own  mind,  I  should  have 
thought  it  an  honour  to  have  entered  into  your  reason- 
ings, and  seen  the  force  of  them.  I  cannot  desire  to 
trespass  any  more  upon  your  better  employed  time ;  so 
shall  only  add  my  hearty  thanks  for  your  trouble  on  ray 
account,  and  that  I  am,  with  the  greatest  respect,  &c." 

Dr.  Clarke,  however,  w^as  not  willing  that  the  correspond- 
ence should  thus  terminate,  and  he  therefore  began  his 
third  letter  with,  "  Though,  when  I  turn  my  thoughts 
every  way,  I  fully  persuade  myself  there  is  no  defect  in 
the  argument  itself;  yet  in  my  manner  of  expression,  I 
am  satisfied  there  must  be  some  want  of  clearness,  when 
there  remains  any  cUfficulty  to  a  person  of  your  abilities 
and  sagacity."  To  this,  Butler  answers,  "Whatever  is 
the  occasion  of  my  not  seeing  the  force  of  your  reasonings, 
I  cannot  impute  it  to  (what  you  do)  the  want  of  clearness 


BUTLER  825 

in  your  expression.  I  am  too  well  acquainted  with  my- 
self, to  think  my  not  understanding  an  argument,  a  suffi- 
cient reason  to  conclude  that  it  is  either  improperly 
expressed,  or  not  conclusive ;  unless  I  can  clearly  show 
the  defect  of  it.  It  is  with  the  greatest  satisfaction,  I 
must  tell  you,  that  the  more  I  reflect  on  your  first  argu- 
ment, the  more  I  am  convinced  of  the  tiuth  of  it."  "  I 
wish  I  were  as  well  satisfied  in  respect  to  the  other."  He 
thus  concludes  this  fourth  letter :  "  All  your  conse- 
quences, I  see,  follow  demonstrahly  from  your  suppo- 
sition ;  and  were  that  evident,  I  believe  it  would  serve  to 
prove  several  other  things  as  well  as  what  you  bring  it 
for.  Upon  this  account,  I  should  be  extremely  pleased  to 
see  it  proved  by  any  one.  For,  as  I  design  the  search 
after  truth  as  the  business  of  my  life,  I  shall  not  be 
ashamed  to  learn  from  any  person  ;  though,  at  the  same 
time,  I  cannot  but  be  sensible,  that  instruction  from 
some  men  is  like  the  gift  of  a  prince,  it  reflects  honour  on 
the  person  on  whom  it  lays  an  obligation." 

To  the  further  explanations  of  Dr.  Clarke,  Butler  in 
the  commencement  of  his  fifth  letter,  remarks,  "  You 
have  very  comprehensively  expressed  in  six  or  seven  lines, 
all  the  difficulties  of  my  letter."  I  am  very  glad  the 
debate  is  come  into  so  narrow  a  compass ;  for  I  think  now 
it  entirely  turns  upon  this,  whether  our  ideas  of  space 
and  duration  are  partial,  so  as  to  pre-suppose  the  exist- 
ence of  some  other  thing,"  &c.  Having  then  proposed 
certain  difficulties  which  lay  in  the  way  of  a  demonstra- 
tive conclusion,  he  adds,  "  Notwithstanding  what  I  have 
now  said,  I  cannot  say  that  I  believe  your  argument  not 
conclusive ;  for  I  must  own  my  ignorance,  that  I  am 
really  at  a  loss  about  the  nature  of  space  and  duration." 
The  correspondence  on  Butler's  part  was  thus  ended : 
"  Your  argument  for  the  omnipresence  of  God  seemed 
always  to  me  very  probable.  But  being  very  desirous  to 
have  it  appear  demonstrably  conclusive,  I  was  sometimes 
forced  to  say  what  was  not  altogether  my  opinion ;  not 
that  I  did  this  for  the  sake  of  disputing  (for  besides  th« 


326  BUTLER. 

particular  disagreeableness  of  this  to  my  own  temper,  I 
should  surely  have  chosen  another  person  to  have  trifled 
with) ;  but  I  did  it  to  set  off  the  objections  to  advantage, 
that  it  might  be  more  fully  answered. '' 

The  closing  letter  of  Dr.  Clarke,  contains  the  following 
passage  :  "  We  seem  to  have  pushed  the  matter  in  ques- 
tion between  us  as  far  as  it  will  go ;  and,  upon  the  whole, 
I  cannot  but  take  notice,  I  have  very  seldom  met  with 
persons  so  reasonable  and  unprejudiced  as  yourself,  in 
such   debates  as  these." 

When  Mr.  Butler's  name  was  made  known  to  Dr.  Clarke, 
the  candour,  modesty,  and  good  sense  with  which  he  had 
written,  immediately  procured  him  his  friendly  considera- 
tion. Another  subject  which  occupied  Butler's  mind 
during  his  residence  at  Tewkesbury  was,  the  propriety  of 
his  becoming  a  dissenting  minister.  Accordingly,  he 
entered  into  an  examination  of  the  principles  of  Noncon- 
formity ;  the  result  of  which  was  such  a  dissatisfaction 
with  them,  as  determined  him  to  conform  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  to  seek  for  orders  in  the  English  branch  of 
it.  This  intention  was  at  first  very  disagreeable  to  his 
father,  who  earnestly  endeavoured  to  divert  him  from  it, 
and  with  that  view  called  in  the  assistance  of  some 
eminent  Presbyterian  teachers ;  but  finding  his  son's 
resolution  to  be  fixed,  he  at  length  consented  to  his 
removal  to  Oxford,  where  he  w^as  admitted  a  commoner 
of  Oriel  College,  on  the  17th  of  March,  1714.  While  at 
Oxford,  he  formed  a  friendship  with  Mr.  Edward  Talbot, 
second  son  of  Dr.  William  Talbot,  successively  Bishop  of 
Oxford,  Salisbury,  and  Durham,  at  whose  recommenda- 
tion he  was,  in  1718,  appointed  by  Sir  Joseph  Jekyll 
preacher  at  the  Rolls;  where  he  continued  till  1726, 
when  he  published,  in  one  volume  8vo,  Fifteen  Sermons, 
preached  at  that  chapel. 

In  these  sermons  he  has  taught,  says  Sir  James  Macin- 
tosh, "truths  more  capable  of  being  exactly  distinguished 
from  the  doctrines  of  his  predecessors,  more  satisfactorily 
established  by  him,  more  comprehensively  applied  to  par- 


BUTLER.  327 

ticulars,  more  rationally  connected  with  each  other,  and 
therefore  more  worthy  of  the  name  of  discovery,  than  any 
with  which  we  are  acquainted."  The  ethical  system  of 
Butler  is  thus  briefly  and  ably  given  by  Macintosh. 

"Mankind  have  various  principles  of  action;  some  lead- 
ing directly  to  the  private  good,  some  immediately  to  the 
good  of  the  community.  But  the  private  desires  are  not 
self-love,  or  any  form  of  it ;  for  self-love  is  the  desire  of  a 
man's  own  happiness,  whereas  the  object  of  an  appetite  or 
passion  is  some  outward  thing.  Self-love  seeks  things  as 
means  of  happiness ;  the  private  appetites  seek  things, 
not  as  means,  but  as  ends.  A  man  eats  from  hunger,  and 
drinks  from  thirst ;  and  though  he  knows  that  these  acts 
are  necessary  to  life,  that  knowledge  is  not  the  motive  of 
his  conduct.  No  gratification  can  indeed  be  imagined 
without  a  previous  desire.  If  all  the  particular  desires 
did  not  exist  independently,  self-love  would  have  no  object 
to  employ  itself  about ;  for  there  would  be  no  happiness, 
which,  by  the  very  supposition  of  the  opponents,  is  made 
up  of  the  gratifications  of  various  desires.  No  pursuit 
could  be  selfish  or  interested,  if  there  were  not  satisfactions 
first  gained  by  appetites  which  seek  their  own  outward 
objects  without  regard  to  self;  which  satisfactions  compose 
the  mass  which  is  called  a  man's  interest. 

"  In  contending,  therefore,  that  the  benevolent  affections 
are  disinterested,  no  more  is  claimed  for  them  than  must 
be  granted  to  mere  animal  appetites  and  to  malevolent 
passions.  Each  of  these  principles  alike  seeks  its  own 
object,  for  the  sake  simply  of  obtaining  it.  Pleasure  is  the 
result  of  the  attainment,  but  no  separate  part  of  the  aim 
of  the  agent.  The  desire  that  another  person  may  be  gratifi- 
ed, seeks  that  outward  object  alone,  according  to  the  general 
course  of  human  desire.  Reseutment  is  as  distinterested 
as  gratitude  or  pity,  but  not  more  so.  Hunger  or  thirst 
may  be,  as  much  as  the  purest  benevolence,  at  variance 
with  self-love.  A  regard  to  our  own  general  happiness  is 
not  a  vice,  but  in  itself  an  excellent  quality.  It  were  well 
if  it   prevailed   more   generally  over  craving  and   short- 


328  BUTLER. 

sighted  appetites.  The  weakness  of  the  social  affections, 
and  the  strength  of  the  private  desires,  properly  consti- 
tute selfishness ;  a  vice  utterly  at  variance  with  the  hap- 
piness of  him  who  harbours  it,  and,  as  such,  condemned 
by  self-love.  There  are  as  few  who  attain  the  greatest 
satisfaction  to  themselves,  as  who  do  the  greatest  good  to 
others.  It  is  absurd  to  say,  with  some,  that  the  pleasure 
of  benevolence  is  selfish,  because  it  is  felt  by  self.  Un- 
derstanding and  reasoning  are  acts  of  self,  for  no  man 
can  think  by  proxy  ;  but  no  one  ever  called  them  selfish. 
Why  ?  Evidently  because  they  do  not  regard  self.  Pre- 
cisely the  same  reason  applies  to  benevolence.  Such  an 
argument  is  a  gross  confusion  of  self,  as  it  is  a  subject  of 
feeling  or  thought,  with  self  considered  as  the  object  of 
either.  It  is  no  more  just  to  refer  the  private  appetites 
to  self-love  because  they  commonly  promote  happiness, 
than  it  would  be  to  refer  them  to  self-hatred  in  those  fre- 
quent cases  where  their  gratification  obstructs  it. 

"  But,  besides  the  private  or  public  desires,  and  besides 
the  calm  regard  to  our  own  general  welfare,  there  is  a 
principle  in  man,  in  its  nature  supreme  over  all  others. 
This  natural  supremacy  belongs  to  the  faculty  which  sur- 
veys, approves,  or  disapproves  the  several  affections  of  our 
minds  and  actions  of  our  lives.  As  self-love  is  superior 
to  the  private  passions,  so  conscience  is  superior  to 
the  whole  of  man.  Passion  implies  nothing  but  an 
inclination  to  follow  it ;  and  in  that  respect  passions  differ 
only  in  force.  But  no  notion  can  be  formed  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  reflection,  or  conscience,  which  does  not  compre- 
hend judgment,  direction,  superintend ency.  Authority 
over  all  other  principles  of  action  is  a  constituent  part  of 
the  idea  of  conscience,  and  cannot  be  separated  from  it. 
Had  it  strength  as  it  has  right,  it  would  govern  the  world. 
The  passions  would  have  their  power  but  according  to 
their  nature,  which  is  to  be  subject  to  conscience.  Hence 
we  may  understand  the  purpose  at  which  the  ancients, 
perhaps  confusedly,  aimed,  when  they  laid  it  down,  that 
virtue  consisted  in  following  nature.     It  is  neither  easy, 


BUTLER.  829 

nor,  for  the  main  object  of  the  moralist,  important,  to  ren- 
der the  doctrines  of  the  ancients  by  modern  language.  If 
Butler  returns  to  this  phrase  too  often,  it  was  rather  from 
the  remains  of  undistinguishing  reverence  for  antiquity, 
than  because  he  could  deem  its  employment  important  to 
his  own  opinions. 

"  The  tie  which  holds  together  Religion  and  Morality  is, 
in  the  system  of  Butler,  somewhat  different  from  the 
common  representations,  but  less  close.  Conscience,  or 
the  faculty  of  approving  or  disapproving,  necessarily  con- 
stitutes the  bond  of  union.  Setting  out  from  the  belief  of 
Theism,  and  combining  it,  as  he  had  entitled  himself  to 
do,  with  the  reality  of  conscience,  he  could  not  avoid  dis- 
covering that  the  being  who  possessed  the  highest  moral 
qualities,  is  the  object  of  the  highest  moral  affections.  He 
contemplates  the  Deity  through  the  moral  nature  of  man. 
In  the  case  of  a  being  who  is  to  be  perfectly  loved,  '  good- 
ness must  be  the  simple  actuating  principle  within  him ; 
this  being  the  moral  quality  which  is  the  immediate 
object  of  love.'  '  The  highest,  the  adequate  object  of 
this  affection,  is  perfect  goodness ;  which,  therefore,  we 
are  to  love  with  all  our  heart,  with  all  our  soul,  and  with 
all  our  strength.'  '  We  should  refer  ourselves  implicitly 
to  him,  and  cast  ourselves  entirely  upon  him.  The  whole 
attention  of  life  should  be  to  obey  his  commands.'  Moral 
distinctions  are  thus  pre- supposed  before  a  step  can  be 
made  towards  religion :  virtue  leads  to  piety ;  God  is  to 
be  loved,  because  goodness  is  the  object  of  love ;  and  it 
is  only  after  the  mind  rises  through  human  morality  to 
divine  perfection,  that  all  the  virtues  and  duties  are  seen 
to  hang  from  the  throne  of  God.' 

Dr.  Chalmers,  in  his  Bridgewater  Treatise,  remarks 
that  "  Bishop  Butler  has  often  been  spoken  of  as  the  dis- 
coverer of  this  great  principle  in  our  nature,  i.  e.  the  supre- 
macy of  conscience;  though,  perhaps,  no  man  can  properly 
be  said  to  discover  what  all  men  are  conscious  of.  But 
certain  it  is,  that  he  is  the  first  who  hath  made  it  the 
VOL.  ni.  '^  F 


330  BUTLER. 

subject  of  a  full  and  reflex  cognizance.  It  forms  the  argt 
ment  of  his  three  first  sermons,  in  a  volume  which  may 
safely  be  pronounced,  the  most  -precious  repository  of  sound 
ethical  principles  extant  in  any  language.  "  The  authority 
of  conscience,"  says  Dugald  Stewart,  "  although  beauti- 
fully described  by  many  of  the  ancient  moralists,  was  not 
sufficiently  attended  to  by  modern  writers,  as  a  funda- 
mental principle  in  the  science  of  ethics,  till  the  time  of 
Dr.  Butler." 

In  1722  Butler  w^as  presented  by  Dr.  Talbot,  Bishop 
of  Durham,  to  the  rectory  of  Haughton,  near  Darlington, 
and  in  1725  to  that  of  Stanhope,  in  the  same  diocese,  and 
one  of  the  wealthiest,  but  most  retired  benefices  in  Eng- 
land. While  Butler  continued  preacher  at  the  Rolls 
chapel  he  divided  his  time  between  his  duty  there  and 
his  parochial  functions ;  but  when  he  quitted  the  Rolls,  he 
resided  during  seven  years  wholly  at  Stanhope. 

Butler  gave  himself  up,  with  his  accustomed  piety,  to 
the  duties  of  a  parish  priest,  but  as  the  bent  of  his  mind 
was  to  contemplation  rather  than  to  those  active  habits 
which  a  country  clergyman  is  obliged  to  form,  he  felt 
severely  the  want  of  that  more  cultivated  society  to  which 
he  had  been  so  long  accustomed,  and  which  seemed  neces- 
sary to  awaken  the  activity  of  his  mind.  It  must  have 
been  severe  labour  to  Butler  to  render  himself  intelligible 
to  his  humble  flock ;  he  nevertheless  exerted  himself,  and 
the  parish  priests  of  England  are  complacent,  when  they 
remember  that  the  greatest  metaphysician  the  world  ever 
produced,  long  laboured  in  an  obscure  parish,  setting  a 
bright  example  of  pastoral  duty. 

Dr.  Philpotts,  the  present  Bishop  of  Exeter,  who,  after 
an  interval  of  eighty  years,  succeeded  Dr.  Butler  at 
Stanhope,  informs  us,  that  he  "lived  very  retired,  was 
very  kind,  and  could  not  resist  the  importunities  of  com- 
mon beggars,  who  knowing  his  infirmity,  pursued  him  so 
earnestly,  as  sometimes  to  drive  him  back  into  his  house, 
as  his  only  escape.     I  confess  I  do  not  think  my  authority 


BUTLER.  331 

)!•  this  trait  of  character  in  Butler,  is  quite  sufficient  to 
justify  my  reporting  it  with  any  confidence.  There  was, 
moreover,  a  tradition  of  his  riding  a  black  pony,  and 
riding  always  very  fast.  I  examined  the  parish  books, 
not  with  much  hope  of  discovering  anything  worth  record- 
ing of  him ;  and  was  unhappily  as  unsuccessful  as  I 
expected.  His  name,  indeed,  was  subscribed  to  one  or 
two  acts  of  vestiy,  in  a  very  neat  and  easy  character;  but 
if  it  was  amusing,  it  was  mortifying,  to  find  the  only  trace 
of  such  a  man's  labours,  recorded  by  his  own  hand,  to  be 
the  passing  a  parish  account,  authorizing  the  payment  of 
five  shillings,  to  some  adventurous  clown  who  had  de- 
stroyed a  'foumart,'  or  wood-marten,  the  marten-cat,  or 
some  other  equally  important  matter." 

The  late  Bishop  of  Durham,  Dr.  Van  Mildert,  in  a 
letter  to  the  Archdeacon  of  Lincoln,  mentions  the  following 
reminiscence  of  his  great  predecessor,  while  at  Stanhope, 
upon  the  authority  of  the  present  incumbent  of  that  parish : 
*'  When  in  London,  Dr.  Butler  used  to  say  to  his  servant, 
'  John,  you  and  I  must  be  thinking  of  riding  down  to 
Stanhope  some  of  these  days.'  A  communication  which 
the  servant  always  judiciously  interpreted  to  mean  that 
the  horses  were  to  be  at  the  door  on  the  next  Monday 
morning,  after  breakfast,  for  the  commencement  of  their 
journey  to  the  north."  The  Bishop  adds,  moreover,  "  that 
he  was  frequently  seen  riding  through  Frosterley,  a  hamlet 
of  Stanhope,  at  a  great  pace,  on  a  black  horse." 

Although  Butler  sought  no  removal  himself,  his  friends 
desired  to  see  him  placed  in  some  situation  more  congenial 
to  his  peculiar  powers  of  mind.  His  friend  Seeker,  after- 
wards Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  omitted  no  opportunity 
of  expressing  this  desire  to  such  as  he  thought  capable  of 
giving  effect  to  it.  Having  himself  been  appointed  King's 
chaplain  in  1732,  he  took  occasion,  in  a  conversation  with 
Queen  Caroline,  to  mention  to  her  his  friend  Mr.  Butler. 
The  queen  remarked  that  she  thought  he  was  dead ;  and, 
not  satisfied  with  his  assurance  to  the  contrary,  she  enquir- 
ed of  Archbishop  Blackburne,  who  replied,  "No,  madam; 


83a  BUTLER. 

but  he  is  buried."  Mr.  Seeker,  continuing  his  purpose 
of  endeavouring  to  bring  his  friend  out  of  his  retirement, 
found  means,  upon  Mr.  Charles  Talbot's  being  made  Lord 
Chancellor,  to  have  Mr.  Butler  recommended  to  him  for 
his  chaplain.  The  chancellor  assented  ;  and  this  promo- 
tion calling  Butler  to  town,  he  took  Oxford  in  his  way, 
and  was  admitted  there  to  the  degree  of  D.  C.  L.  on  the 
8th  of  December,  1733.  The  chancellor  gave  him  also  a 
prebend  in  the  church  of  Eochester,  and  when  Dr.  Butler 
refused  to  absent  himself  from  his  parish,  the  chancellor 
entered  into  a  compromise,  and  consented  that  he  should 
reside  at  Stanhope  one  half  of  the  year.  Dr.  Butler  being 
thus  drawn  from  retirement,  soon  gained  that  notice  which 
was  due  to  his  virtues  and  acquirements.  In  1736  he  was 
appointed  clerk  of  the  closet  to  Queen  Caroline ;  and  in 
the  same  year  he  presented  to  her,  previous  to  its  publi- 
cation, his  celebrated  treatise,  entitled  The  Analogy  of 
Religion,  Natural  and  Revealed,  to  the  Constitution  and 
Course  of  Nature. 

This  great  work,  as  Mackintosh  remarks,  is  only  a 
commentaiT  on  the  singularly  original  and  pregnant  pas- 
sage of  Origen,  which  is  so  honestly  prefixed  to  it  as  a 
motto,  but  it  is,  notwithstanding,  the  most  original  and 
profound  work  extant  in  any  language  on  the  philosophy  of 
religion.  It  is  impossible,  within  the  limits  prescribed  to  us 
in  this  work,  to  give  an  analysis  of  this  wonderful  treatise, 
with  which  every  student  in  divinity  is  accustomed  to 
make  himself  thoroughly  acquainted.  It  is,  says  a  writer 
in  the  Quarterly  Review,  a  work  too  thoughtful  for  the 
flippant  task  of  the  sceptical  school,  and  indeed  is  only  to 
be  appreciated  after  much  patient  meditation.  It  is  not 
a  short  line  that  will  fathom  Butler.  Let  a  hundred 
readers  sit  down  to  the  examination  of  the  Analogy,  and 
however  various  the  associations  of  thought  excited  in  their 
minds  by  the  perusal,  (whether  as  objections  or  otherwise), 
they  will  find  on  examination  that  Butler  has  been  before- 
hand with  them  in  all.  This  may  not  at  first  strike  them. 
Often  it  will  discover  itself  in  a  hint,  overlooked,  perhaps, 


BUTLER.  333 

in  a  first  reading,  dropped  by  Butler  in  the  profusion  of 
his  matter,  as  it  were,  to  show,  that  he  was  aware  of  what 
might  be  said,  but  that  he  had  better  game  on  foot;  and  still 
more  often  will  it  be  traced,  in  the  caution  with  which  he 
selects  an  expression,  not  perhaps  the  obvious  expression, 
such,  indeed,  as  to  a  superficial  reader  may  seem  an  unac- 
countable circumlocution,  or  an  ungraceful  stiffness  of 
language.  In  all  these  cases,  he  is  evidently  glancing  at 
an  argument,  or  parrying  an  objection  of  some  kind  or 
other,  that  had  been  lurking  about  him  ;  objections  and 
arguments  which  may  sometimes  present  themselves  to  us 
at  once,  but  which  very  frequently  are  latent  till  the 
undercurrent  of  our  thoughts  happens  to  set  in  with 
Butler's,  and  throws  them  up.  We  have  heard  persons 
talk  of  the  obscurity  of  Bishop  Butler's  style,  and  lament 
that  his  book  was  not  re-written  by  some  more  luminous 
master  of  language.  We  have  always  suspected  that  such 
critics  knew  veiy  little  about  the  Analogy.  We  would 
have  no  sacrilegious  hand  touch  it.  It  would  be  like 
officious  meddling  with  a  well  considered  move  at  chess. 
We  would  change  a  word  in  it  with  the  caution  of  men 
expounding  hieroglyphics, — it  has  a  meaning,  but  we  have 
not  hit  upon  it;  others  may,  or  we  ourselves  may,  at 
another  time.  The  Analogy  is  a  work  carefully  and 
closely  packed  up,  out  of  twenty  years'  hard  thinking.  It 
must  have  filled  folios,  had  its  illustrious  author  taken 
less  time  to  concoct  it ;  for  never  was  there  a  stronger  in- 
stance of  the  truth  of  the  observation,  that  it  requires  far 
more  time  to  make  a  small  book  than  a  large  one.  For 
ourselves,  whether  we  consider  it  as  directly  corroborative 
of  the  scheme  of  Christianity,  by  shewing  its  consistency 
with  natural  religion,  or  whether,  (which  is,  perhaps,  its 
most  important  aspect,)  as  an  answer  to  those  objections 
which  may  be  brought  against  Christianity,  arising  out  of 
the  difficulties  involved  in  it,  we  look  upon  the  Analogy 
of  Bishop  Butler,  as  the  work,  above  all  others,  on  which 
the  mind  can  repose  with  the  most  entire  satisfaction,  and 
faith  found  itself,  as  on  a  rock." 
2f2 


334  BUTLER. 

Dr.  Butler  remarked  to  a  friend,  that  his  plan  in  writ- 
ing the  Analogy  had  been,  "  to  endeavour  to  answer,  as  he 
went  along,  every  possible  objection  that  might  occur  to 
any  one  against  any  position  of  his,  in  his  book."  "  This 
way  of  arguing,  from  what  is  acknowledged  to  what  is  dis- 
puted," obseiTes  Bishop  Halifax,  "  from  things  known  to 
other  things  that  resemble  them,  from  that  part  of  the 
Divine  establishment  which  is  exposed  to  our  view  to  that 
more  important  one  which  lies  beyond  it,  is  on  all  hands 
confessed  to  be  just.  By  this  method  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
has  unfolded  the  system  of  nature  ;  by  the  same  method, 
Bishop  Butler  has  explained  the  system  of  grace ;  and 
thus,  to  use  the  words  of  a  writer  whom  I  quote  with  plea- 
sure, '  has  formed  and  concluded  a  happy  alliance  between 
faith  and  philosophy.' " 

"  I  know  no  author,"  says  Dr.  Reid,  "who  has  made  a 
more  just  and  a  more  happy  use  of  analogical  reasoning 
than  Bishop  Butler,  in  his  Analogy  of  Religion.  In  that 
excellent  work,  the  author  does  not  ground  any  of  the 
truths  of  religion  upon  analogy  as  their  proper  evidence. 
He  only  makes  use  of  analogy  to  answer  objections  against 
them.  When  objections  are  made  against  truths  of  reli- 
gion, which  may  be  made  with  equal  strength  against 
what  we  know  to  be  true  in  the  course  of  nature,  such 
objections  can  have  no  weight."  To  the  same  pui-pose,  it 
is  observed  by  Dr.  Campbell,  that  "  analogical  evidence  is 
generally  more  successful  in  silencing  objections  than  in 
evincing  truth.  Though  it  rarely  refutes,  it  frequently 
repels  refutation;  like  those  weapons  which,  though  they 
cannot  kill  the  enemy,  will  ward  his  blows." 

When  Dr.  Butler  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  closet,  he 
attended  Queen  Caroline,  by  her  majesty's  commands, 
every  day  between  seven  and  nine  in  the  evening.  The 
orthodoxy  of  Queen  Caroline  has  been  doubted ;  it  is 
therefore  satisfactory  to  learn,  from  Bishop  Butler's  private 
memoranda,  that  his  first  official  act  in  his  new  capa- 
city was,  to  administer  to  her  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper   privately,    at   Kensington.     The   Queen  died  in 


BUTLER.  835 

1737  :  but  out  of  regard  to  her  wishes,  and  on  the  re- 
commendation of  Lord  Chancellor  Talbot,  Dr.  Butler  was 
the  next  year  nommated  by  the  King  to  the  see  of  Bristol, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  elected  by  the  dean  and  chap- 
ter. In  the  spring  of  1740,  owing  to  the  insufficiency  of 
the  episcopal  revenues  of  Bristol,  he  was  appointed  to 
the  deanery  of  St.  Paul's,  and  was  thus  enabled  to  resign 
the  rectory  of  Stanhope.  His  alterations  and  repairs  in 
the  palace  at  Bristol,  were  so  extensive  as  to  have 
amounted,  it  is  said,  to  a  larger  sum  than  the  whole  in- 
come of  the  see,  during  his  incumbency :  and  when  his 
friends  observed  that  he  was  expending  more  than  his 
episcopal  revenues  upon  these  improvements,  he  used  to 
reply,  that  "  the  deanery  of  St.  Paul's  paid  for  them." 

The  late  dean  of  Bristol,  Dr.  Beake,  in  a  letter  upon 
the  subject,  to  the  Archdeacon  of  Lincoln,  observes, 
"  Bishop  Butler  is  believed  to  have  expended  a  very  con- 
siderable sum  in  repairs  of  the  palace  ;  but  the  exterior  of 
the  building  was  almost  all  of  it  about  coeval  with  the 
abbey  itself,  the  walls  being  about  five  feet  thick,  of  which 
the  partially  calcined  ruins  are  now  to  be  seen.  Much  of 
the  interior  had  been  altered  at  the  cost  of  Bishop  Butler, 
and  a  very  prevalent  idea  exists,  especially  since  estimates 
have  been  made  of  the  damages  by  the  fire,  that  he  was 
greatly  imposed  upon  by  those  whom  he  employed. 
Various  traditions  exist,  of  the  sum  he  expended,  as 
£4000,  or  £5000 ;  but  I  have  never  been  able  to  trace 
any  one  of  them  to  any  authentic  source,  though  from  my 
own  observations,  and  those  of  skilful  surveyors,  I  believe 
they  are  not  far  distant  from  the  truth.  I  have  heard 
another  tradition,  to  which  I  give  some,  although  limited 
credit,  that  he  spent  the  whole  income  of  the  bishopric, 
on  an  average  of  about  twelve  years,  during  which  he  held 
it,  in  repairs  and  improvements  of  the  palace." 

When  Butler  was  carrying  forward  the  alterations  in  the 
episcopal  residence,  the  merchants  of  Bristol  made  him  a 
present  of  a  considerable  quantity  of  cedar,  with  which  he 
adorned  the  palace.    Not  having  occasion  to  use  the  whole 


336  BUTLER. 

of  this  cedar,  he  took  some  of  it  to  Durham,  upon  his  re- 
moval thither  in  1750,  where  it  remained  in  an  un wrought 
state,  until  one  of  his  distinguished  successors,  the  ami- 
able and  munificent  Bishop  Barrington,  had  it  made  into 
articles  of  furniture,  which  he  presented  to  his  friends  as 
mementos  of  Bishop  Butler. 

Amongst  the  various  improvements  which  Butler  made 
in  the  palace  at  Bristol,  was  the  entire  renovation  of  the 
interior  of  the  private  chapel ;  where,  over  the  communion 
table,  he  placed  the  cross,  at  which  offence  was  subse- 
quently taken,  when  the  charge  of  attachment  to  Romish 
usages  was  made  against  him.  The  ground  of  this  cross 
was  a  large  slab  of  black  marble,  into  which  a  cross  of 
white  marble,  of  about  three  feet  high,  by  eighteen  inches 
wide,  was  sunk.  The  whole  was  surrounded  by  some  of 
the  cedar  alluded  to,  which  was  beautifully  carved.  The 
chapel  and  the  cross  remained,  in  the  state  in  which 
Bishop  Butler  left  them,  until  the  destruction  of  the 
palace  by  an  infuriated  mob,  upon  the  31st  of  October, 
1831. 

Towards  the  end  of  1747,  a  lady  of  rank  having  solicited 
the  advice  of  Butler  upon  a  point  of  conscience,  in  refer- 
ence to  Church  property,  he  addressed  to  her  the  following 
letter. 

"  London,  December  22,  1747. 
"  Madam, 

"Your  letter  of  the  14th  current,  which  did  not 
come  to  hand  till  the  18th,  cannot,  indeed,  require  any 
sort  of  apology.  I  know  not  how  to  refuse  my  judgment, 
such  as  it  is,  in  a  case  of  conscience,  to  any  person  that 
asks  it :  but  I  think  myself  strictly  bound  to  give  it  to 
good  persons  of  my  own  diocese.  For  I  mention  only  this 
demand  you  have  upon  me,  because,  upon  such  an  occa- 
sion as  the  present,  I  do  not  chose  to  speak  of  your  rank, 
madam,  nor  of  the  great  civilities  I  have  received  from 
you. 


BUTLER  837 

"  The  corrujDtion  and  disorder  of  human  affairs  is  such 
as  has  perplexed  the  rule  of  right,   and   made  it  hard  in 
some  cases  to  say  how  one  ought  to  act.    But  I  apprehend 
there  is  no  such  difficulty  in  the  case  you  put.     Property 
in  general  is,   and   must  be,  regulated  by  the  laws  of  the 
community.     This,   in  general,  I  say,  is  allowed  on  all 
hands.    If,  therefore,  there  be  auy  sort  of  property  exempt 
from  these  regulations,  or  any  exception  to  the  general 
method  of  regulating  it,    such   exception   must   appear, 
either  from  the  light  of  nature,  or  from  revelation.     But, 
neither  of  these  do,  I  think,   show  any  such  exception, 
and,  therefore,  we  may  with  a  good  conscience  retain  any 
possessions,  church  lands,  or  tithes,  which  the  laws  of  the 
state  we  live  under  give  us  a  property  in.     And   there 
seems  less  ground  for  scruple  here  in  England  than  in 
some  other  countries;  because  our  ecclesiastical  laws  agree 
with  our  civil  ones  in  this  matter.     Under  the  Mosaic 
dispensation,  indeed,  God  himself  assigned  to  the  priests 
and  Levites,  tithes,  and  other  possessions :  and  in  those 
possessions  they  had  a  divine  right ;   a  property,  quite 
superior  to  all  human  laws,   ecclesiastical  as  well  as  civil. 
But  every  donation  to  the  Christian  Church  is  a  human 
donation,  and  no  more ;  and  therefore  cannot  give  a  dinne 
right,  but  such  a  right  only  as  must  be  subject  in  common 
•with  all  other  property  to  the  regulation  of  human  laws. 
I  would  not  carry  you,  madam,  into  abstinise  speculations; 
but  think  it  might  be  cleai'ly  shown,  that  no  one  can  have 
a  right  of  perpetuity  in  any  lands,  except  it  be  given  by 
God,   as  the  land  of  Canaan   was  to  Abraham.     There  is 
DO  other  means  by  which  such  a  kind  of  property  or  right 
can  be  acquired  :   and  plain  absurdities  would  follow  from 
the  supposition  of  it.     The  persons  then,  who  gave  these 
lands  to  the  Church,  had  themselves  no  right  of  perpetuity 
in  them,  consequently,  could  convey  no  such  right  to  the 
Church.     But  all  scruples  concerning  the  la\vfulness  of 
laymen's  possessing  these  lands  go  upon  supposition,  that 
the  Church  has  such  a  right  of  perpetuity  in  them  :  and, 


338  BUTLER. 

therefore,  all  those  scruples  must  be  groundless,  as  going 
upon  a  false  supposition. 

"  As  you  do  not  mention,  madam,  in  what  particular 
light  you  consider  this  matter,  I  chose  to  put  it  in  differ- 
ent ones.  And  having  said  thus  much  concerning  the 
strict  justice  of  the  case,  I  think  myself  obliged  to  add, 
that  great  disorders  having  been  committed  at  the 
Reformation,  and  a  multitude  of  parochial  cures  left  scan- 
dalously poor,  and  become  yet  poorer  by  accidental  cir- 
cumstances, I  think  a  man's  possession  of  one  of  those  im- 
poverished cures  is,  not,  indeed,  an  obligation  in  justice, 
but  a  providential  admonition,  to  do  somewhat,  according 
to  his  abilities,  towards  settling  some  competent  mainten- 
ance upon  it,  in  one  way  or  another.  In  like  manner,  as 
a  person  in  distress,  being  my  neighbour,  dependent,  or 
even  acquaintance,  is  a  providential  admonition  to  me  in 
particular,  to  assist  him,  over  and  above  the  general  obli- 
gation to  charity,  which  would  call  upon  me  to  assist  such 
a  person,  in  common  with  all  others  who  were  informed 
of  his  case.  But  I  think  I  ought  to  say,  since  I  can  say 
it  with  great  truth,  that  I  mention  this,  not,  madam,  as 
thinking  that  you  want  reminding  of  it,  but  as  the  subject 
itself  I  write  upon  requires  it  should  be  mentioned. 

"  You  need  not,  madam,  have  given  yourself  the  trou- 
ble of  desiring  secrecy,  since  the  thing  itself  so  plainly 
demands  it. 

I  am  with  the  truest  esteem,  madam, 
your  most  obedient,  most  faithful, 

and  most  humble  servant, 

Jo.  Bristol," 

"  I  have  considered  tithes  and  Church  lands  as  the 
same,  because  I  see  no  sort  of  proof,  that  tithes  under  the 
Gospel  are  of  Divine  right ;  and  if  they  are  not,  they 
must  come  under  the  same  consideration  with  lands." 

On  the  death  of  Archbishop  Potter,  in   1747,  it   was 


BUTLER.  339 

proposed  to  make  Bishop  Butler  the  Primate  of  all  Eng- 
land. But  he  declined  the  appointment.  Again,  when 
in  1750  the  see  of  Durham  became  vacant,  the  King 
determined  upon  the  translation  of  the  Bishop  of 
Bristol ;  but  there  were  difficulties  in  the  proposed 
arrangements,  which  alarmed  the  scrupulous  mind  of 
Butler,  and  for  a  time  rendered  it  doubtful  whether  he 
would  accept  the  distinguished  mark  of  favour  which  his 
Majesty  was  anxious  to  show  him.  One  of  these  diffi- 
culties is  thus  stated  by  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Exeter,  upon 
the  authority  of  Mr.  Emm,  who  was  secretary  to  Bishop 
Barrington,  after  having,  in  early  life,  acted  as  under- 
secretary to  Butler :  "  Bishop  Butler,  as  might  be  pre- 
sumed, had  not  sought  a  translation  to  Durham  ;  he  was 
purely  passive  in  it,  and  not  absolutely  passive.  For,  on 
his  privately  understanding  that  it  was  the  intention  of 
the  minister,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  to  cQnfer  the  lord 
lieutenancy,  which  had  hitherto  gone  with  the  palatine 
see,  on  the  Lord  Barnard,  Butler  gave  it  to  be  understood 
that  he  had  not  the  slightest  wish  to  move  to  Durham, 
and  was  content  to  stay  where  he  was ;  but  he  would  not 
consent  to  the  see  of  Durham  losing  a  single  honour 
which  it  had  been  accustomed  to  enjoy,  on  occasion  of  his 
succeeding  to  it.  The  lord  lieutenancy  therefore,  inappro- 
priate as  it  might  be  justly  deemed,  to  the  mitre  even 
of  Durham,  was  not  withdrawn  from  it  till  the  next 
vacancy." 

The  traditional^  account  of  this  transaction  in  the 
family  of  the  Bishop  states,  that  when  he  received  a  letter 
from  the  minister  to  inform  him  of  his  Majesty's  pleasure 
he  immediately  wrote,  to  express  his  dutiful  acknowledg- 
ments to  the  King ;  but  for  the  reason  given  he  declined 
the  proposed  translation.  He  is  reported  to  have  said, 
that  "it  was  a  matter  of  indifference  to  him  whether  he 
died  Bishop  of  Bristol  or  of  Durham ;  but  that  it  was  not 
a  matter  of  indifference  to  him  whether  or  not  the  honours 
of  the  see  were  invaded  during  his  incumbency ;  and  he 


340  BUTLER. 

therefore  begged  to  be  allowed  to  continue  Bishop  of 
Bristol."  He  very  shortly  aftenvards  received  another 
letter  from  the  minister,  to  inform  him  that  "  it  was  his 
Majesty's  pleasure  that  he  should  become  Bishop  of  Dur- 
ham, without  any  condition  whatever." 

Neither  was  this  the  only  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
Butler's  translation  to  Durham.  "  Another  instance  of 
his  delicacy  of  feeling  on  this  occasion,  (says  the  Bishop 
of  Exeter,  upon  the  authority  of  Mr.  Emm),  will  be  more 
accordant  with  general  opinion.  On  his  translation,  the 
deanery  of  St.  Pauls  was  to  be  vacated.  The  minister 
wished  to  give  it  to  Butler's  oldest  and  best  friend, 
Seeker,  who  held  a  stall  at  Durham,  which,  in  that  case,  it 
was  proposed  that  the  crown  should  give  to  Dr.  Chapman. 
Unfortunately  the  arrangemant  was  mentioned  to  Butler 
before  he  was  translated;  and  highly  gratifying  as  it  would 
be  to  him  for  Seeker's  sake,  his  conscience  took  alarm, 
lest  it  should  bear  even  the  semblance  of  a  condition  of  his 
oven  promotion.  He  for  some  time  hesitated  in  conse- 
quence to  accept  the  splendid  station  which  solicited  him  ; 
nor  did  he  yield  till  his  scruple  respecting  all  possible  no- 
tion of  condition  was  utterly  removed." 

By  the  translation  of  Bishop  Butler  to  the  see  of 
Durham  more  ample  means  were  afforded  for  the  indul- 
gence of  that  extensive  beneficence  which  was  always  so 
prominent  a  trait  in  his  character.  Scarcely  had  he  taken 
possession  of  his  new  diocese,  when  he  began  to  make 
great  alterations  in  and  about  the  castle  at  Durham,  as 
well  as  to  commence  extensive  repairs  and  improvements 
at  Auckland.  Among  the  alterations  at  the  castle,  he  re- 
placed the  old  tapestry  hangings  of  the  dining  rooms  with 
stuccoed  walls  and  rich  ornaments  below  the  cornices. 
He  enlarged  the  apertures,  and  put  in  new  gothic  win- 
dows on  the  north  side  of  the  edifice ;  and  took  down  and 
rebuilt  a  considerable  part  of  the  outer  walls  at  the  north 
door,  where  his  arms  are  placed.  He  moreover  renewed 
the  interior  of  the  apartments  appropriated  for  the  use  of 


BUTLER.  341 

the  judges ;  setting  up  new  fire-places,  stoves,  &c.,  and 
having  the  whole  arrangements  conducted  in  a  complete 
and  substantial  manner. 

In  an  article,  which  appeared  in  the  Bath  Journal, 
June  2'2,  175'-^,  upon  the  death  of  Bishop  Butler,  and 
which  is  supposed  to  have  been  drawn  up  by  Archbishop 
Seeker,  is  the  following  allusion  to  this  subject,  as  well  as 
to  the  munificence  with  which  he  contributed  to  one  of 
the  local  charities  of  his  diocese :  "  His  lordship,  upon 
his  translation  to  Durham,  immediately  set  about  repair- 
ing his  two  seats  there,  which,  if  he  had  lived,  he  would 
have  put  into  as  good  condition  as  he  did  his  palace  at 
Bristol.  It  is  said  that  he  entered  himself  an  annual 
subscriber  of  £400  a  year  to  the  county  hospital  of  Dur- 
ham, as  soon  as  he  came  to  the  bishopric  thereof." 

In  supporting  the-  dignity  of  his  high  station,  he  not 
only  avoided  eveij  thing  mean,  but  evinced  the  greatest 
liberality.  He  expressed  himself  desirous  of  imitating 
the  generous  spirit  of  his  predecessor  and  first  patron, 
Bishop  Talbot ;  and  in  compliance  with  this  spirit,  he 
appointed  three  days  in  eveiy  week  for  the  entertainment 
of  the  principal  gentry  of  the  county  and  neighbourhood, 
who  might  feel  disposed  to  accept  his  hospitality.  The 
clergy  of  his  diocese  were  always  welcome  guests,  both  at 
the  castle  of  Durham  and  at  Auckland  ;  and  not  only  did 
he  invite  the  poorest  of  his  clerical  brethren  to  the  palace, 
but  he  occasionally  visited  them  at  their  respective 
parishes. 

He  was  welcomed  by  the  clergy  ;  and  with  the  parochial 
clergy,  he  who  had  long  been  a  parish  priest,  knew  how  to 
sympathise.  When  on  a  visit  to  his  lordship  they  found 
themselves  treated  with  the  same  honour  and  respect  as 
the  proudest  aristocrats  of  the  county;  and  when  he 
visited  them,  he  did  not  make  his  visit  a  burden  by  being 
attended  by  an  expensive  equipage.  He  did  not  act  in 
anger  or  caprice  ;  and  instead  of  hurrying  over  the  offices 
of  religion  as  if  they  were  unworthy  of  his  attention,  he 

VOL.    III.  2g 


342  BUTLER 

performed  all  the  duties  of  his  high  office  with  peculiar 
solemnity. 

The  following  interesting  anecdote  has  been  told  of 
him  :  A  gentleman  once  waited  upon  Bishop  Butler,  to 
lay  before  him  the  details  of  some  projected  benevolent 
institution.  The  Bishop  highly  approved  of  the  object  in 
view,  and  calling  his  house-steward,  inquired,  how  much 
money  he  then  had  in  his  jwssession  ?  The  answer  was, 
"  Five  hundred  pounds,  my  lord."  "  Five  hundred 
pounds!"  exclaimed  his  master;  "what  a  shame  for  a 
Bishop  to  have  so  much  money  !  Give  it  away  ;  give  it 
all  to  this  gentleman,  for  his  charitable  plan." 

Notwithstanding  the  liberal  hospitality  and  munificence 
of  Butler  upon  suitable  occasions,  his  private  habits  were 
simple  and  unostentatious.  "A  friend  of  mine,  since 
deceased,  told  me,"  says  the  Ptev.  John  Newton,  "  that 
when  he  was  a  young  man,  he  once  dined  with  the  late 
Dr.  Butler,  at  that  time  Bishop  of  Duttiam  ;  and  though 
the  guest  was  a  man  of  fortune,  and  the  interview  by  ap- 
pointment, the  provision  was  no  more  than  a  joint  of  meat 
and  a  pudding.  The  Bishop  apologized  for  his  plain  fare, 
by  saying,  '  that  it  was  his  way  of  living ;  that  he  had 
been  long  disgusted  with  the  fashionable  expense  of  time 
and  money  in  entertainments,  and  was  determined  that 
it  should  receive  no  countenance  from  his  example.'" 

In  Hutchinson's  History  of  Durham,  Bishop  Butler  is 
thus  described  : — "  He  was  of  a  most  reverend  aspect  ; 
his  face  thin  and  pale ;  but  there  was  a  divine  placidness 
in  his  countenance  which  inspired  venerati(m,  and  ex- 
pressed the  most  benevolent  mind.  His  white  hair  hung 
gracefully  on  his  shoulders,  and  his  whole  figure  was 
patriarchal." 

In  Surtee's  history  of  the  same  place  are  the  following 
remarks  upon  him  : — "  During  the  short  time  that  Butler 
held  the  see  of  Durham  he  conciliated  all  hearts.  In  ad- 
vanced years,  and  on  the  episcopal  throne,  he  retained  the 
same  genuine  modesty  and  native  sweetness  of  disposition 


BUTLER.  343 

which  had  distinguished  him  in  youth  and  in  retirement. 
During  the  ministerial  performance  of  the  sacred  office,  a 
divine  animation  seemed  to  pen^ade  his  whole  manner, 
and  lighted  up  his  pale  wan  countenance,  already  marked 
with  the  progress  of  disease,  like  a  torch  glimmering  in 
its  socket,  yet  bright  and  useful  to  the  last." 

Soon  after  his  appointment  to  the  see  of  Durham, 
Bishop  Butler  turned  his  attention  to  the  importance  of 
introducing  episcopacy  into  North  America,  and  drew  up 
a  plan  for  that  purpose,  which,  not  being  adopted  at  the 
time,  was  again  brought  under  the  consideration  of  govern- 
ment some  years  after  his  decease.  This  plan  appears  in 
p.  55  of  Mr.  Apthorpes  Review  of  Dr.  Mayhew's  Remarks, 
and  also  in  the  Annual  Register  of  1765,  where  it  is  thus 
alluded  to,  (p.  108) :  "  The  following  plan  for  introducing 
episcopacy  into  North  America,  as  laid  down  by  Bishop 
Butler  in  1750,  has  been  for  some  time,  it  is  said,  under 
the  consideration  of  the  goveiTiment. 

1.  "  That  no  coercive  power  is  desired  over  the  laity  in 
any  case,  but  only  a  power  to  regulate  the  behaviour  of 
the  clergy  who  are  in  episcopal  orders  ;  and  to  correct  and 
punish  them  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Church  of 
England,  in  case  of  misbehaviour  or  neglect  of  duty, 
with  such  pov^er  as  the  commissaries  abroad  have  ex- 
ercised. 

2.  "  That  nothing  is  desired  for  such  Bishops  that  may 
in  the  least  interfere  with  the  dignity,  or  authority,  or  in- 
terest of  the  governor,  or  any  other  office  of  state.  Pro- 
bates of  wills,  license  for  marriages,  &c.,  to  be  left  in  the 
hands  where  they  are ;  and  no  share  in  the  temporal 
government  is  desired  for  Bishops. 

3.  "  The  maintenance  of  such  Bishops  not  to  be  at  the 
charge  of  the  colonies. 

4.  "  No  Bishops  are  intended  to  be  settled  in  places 
where  the  government  is  left  in  the  hands  of  dissenters, 
as  in  New  England,  &c.  But  authority  to  be  given  only 
to  ordain  clergy  for  such  Church  of  England  congrega- 
tions as  are  among  them,  and  to  inspect  into  the  manners 


344  BUTLER. 

and  behaviour  of  the  said  clergy,  and  to  confirm  the  m^^m- 
bers  thereof." 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  deliberations  of  the 
government  upon  this  reasonable  and  important  measure 
should  have  terminated  without  its  adoption.  It  is  said 
to  have  been  the  opinion  of  that  distinguished  statesman, 
Mr.  Pitt,  that  had  the  Church  of  England  been  efficiently 
established  in  the  United  States,  it  was  highly  probable 
that  those  states  would  not  have  been  separated  from  Great 
Britain. 

It  was  not  to  be  supposed  that  a  prelate  devout,  ascetic, 
generous,  learned,  and  catholic,  would  long  be  without 
enemies.  And  Satan  soon  found  an  opportunity  to  in- 
dulge the  wishes  of  those  who  do  his  work  by  acting  as 
accusers  of  brethren.  Bishop  Butler,  like  all  the  great 
divines  of  the  Church  of  England,  was  accused  of  popery. 
The  charge  was  brought  against  him  first  on  the  pub- 
lication of  his  primaiT  charge.  The  deep,  philosophical 
mind  of  this  great  prelate  saw  the  importance  of  external 
religion,  and  on  this  subject  he  charged  his  clergy  in 
1751.  The  charge  is  a  plain  and  practical  pastoral  ad- 
dress, such  as  we  should  expect  from  one  who  had  not 
only  come  forward  as  a  metaphysician,  but  was  fully 
acquainted  with  all  the  difficulties  of  the  parish  priest. 
The  state  of  irreligion  and  infidelity,  so  generally  prevail- 
ing in  this  country  at  that  time,  Bishop  Butler  thought 
indicative  of  those  last  days  in  which  Faith  will  scarcely 
be  found  upon  Earth.  The  principal  design  of  the  Bishop 
in  this  charge,  is  to  exhort  his  clergy  to  do  their  part 
towards  re\dving  a  practical  sense  of  religion  among  the 
people  committed  to  their  charge,  and  as  one  way  of 
effecting  this,  "  to  instruct  them  in  the  importance  of 
external  religion,"  or  the  use  of  outward  observances  in 
promoting  piety.  Bishop  Halifax,  in  defending  Bishop 
Butler  from  the  charge  of  popeiy,  provides  us  with  a  con- 
cise analysis  of  this  portion  of  the  charge. 

"  From  the  compound  nature  of  man,  consisting  of  two 
parts,  the  body  and  the  mind,  together  with  the  influence 


BUTLER.  345 

which  these  are  found  to  have  on  one  another,  it  follows, 
that  the  religious  regards  of  such  a  creature  ought  to  be 
so  framed  as  to  be  in  some  way  properly  accomodated  to 
both.     A  religion  which  is  purely  spiritual,  stripped  of 
every  thing  that  may  affect  the  senses,   and  considered 
only  as  a  divine  philosophy  of  the   mind,   if  it  do  not 
mount  up  into  enthusiasm,   as  has  frequently  been  the 
case,  often  sinks  after  a  few  short  fervours  into  indiffer- 
ence;   an   abstracted    invisible   object,    like    that   which 
natural   religion  offers,    ceases   to  move   or   interest  the 
heart ;  and  something  further  is  wanting  to  bring  it  nearer 
and  render  it  more  present  to  our  view,   than  merely  an 
intellectual  contemplation.     On  the  other  hand,  when  in 
order  to  remedy  this  inconvenience,  i;ecourse  is  had  to  in- 
stituted   forms    and-ritual  injunctions,    there  is   always 
danger  lest  men  be  tempted  to  vest  entirely  on  these,  and 
persuade  themselves  that  a  painful  attention  to  such  obser- 
vances will  atone  for  the  want  of  genuine  piety  and  virtue. 
Yet  surely  there  is  a  way  of  steering  safely  between  these 
two  extremes  ;  of  so  consulting  both  the  parts  of  our  con- 
stitution,  that  the  body   and  the  mind  may  concur  in 
rendering  our  religious  services  acceptable  to  God,  and  at 
the  same   time  useful  to  ourselves.     And  what  way  can 
this  be,   but  precisely  that  which  is  recommended  in  the 
charge ;   such  a  cultivation   of  outward  as  well   as  inward 
religion,  that  from   both  may  result,   what  is    the  point 
chiefly  to  be  laboured,   and  at  all  events  to  be  secured,  a 
correspondent  temper  and  behaviour ;   or  in  other  words, 
such  an  application  of  the  forms  of  godliness  as  may  be 
subservient  in  promoting  the  power  and  spirit  of  it  ?     No 
man  who  believes  the  Scriptures  of  the  old  and  new  Testa- 
ment, and  understands  what  he  believes,  but  must  know, 
that  external  religion  is  as  much  enjoined,  and  constitutes 
as  real  a  part  of  revelation  as  that  which  is  internal.    The 
many  ceremonies  in  use  among  the  Jews,  in  consequence 
of    a   divine   command ;   the   baptism   of   water,    as    an 
emblem  of  moral  purity ;  the  eating  and  drinking  of  bread 


346  BUTLER. 

and  wine,  as  symbols  and  representations  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  required  of  Christians ;  are  proofs  of  this. 
On  comparing  these  two  parts  of  religion  together,  one  it 
is  immediately  seen  is  of  much  greater  importance  than 
the   other;    and   whenever  they  happen  to   interfere,    is 
always  to  be  preferred  :  but  does  it  follow  from  hence,  that 
therefore  that  other  is  of  little  or  no  importance,  and  in 
cases   where  there    is  no   competition,   may  entirely  be 
neglected  ?   or   rather   is   not   the   legitimate   conclusion 
directly  the  reverse,  that  nothing  is  to  be  looked  upon  as  of 
little  importance,  which  is  of  any  use  at  all  in  preserving 
upon  our  minds  a  sense  of  the  divine  authority,  which  re- 
calls to  our  remembrance  the  obligations  we  are  under, 
and  helps  to  keep  us,  as  the  Scripture  expresses  it,  in  the 
fear  of  the  Lord  all  the  day  long?     If,  to  adopt  the  in- 
stance mentioned  in  the  charge,   the  sight  of  a  Church 
should  remind   a  man  of  some   sentiment  of  piety ;  if, 
from  the  view  of  a  material  building  dedicated  to  the 
service  of  God,  he  should  be  led  to  regard  himself,  his 
own  body,   as  a  living  temple  of  the  Holy   Ghost,   and 
therefore,   no   more   than  the  other    to    be  profaned  or 
desecrated  by  any  thing  that  defileth  or  is  impure,  could 
it  be  truly  said  of  such  a  one  that  he  was  superstitious, 
or  mistook  the  means  of  religion  for  the  end  ?     If,  to  use 
another,   and  what  has  been  thought  a  more  obnoxious 
instance,    taken   from    the    Bishop's    practice,    a   Cross, 
erected  in  a  place  of  public  worship,   should  cause  us  to 
reflect  on  Him  who  died  on  a  cross  for  our  salvation,  and 
on  the  necessity  of  our  own  dying  to  sin,  and  of  cinicify- 
ing  the  flesh  with  its   affections   and  lusts ;   would  any 
worse  consequences  follow  from   such  sentiments  so  ex- 
cited, than  if  the  same  sentiments  had  been  excited  by 
the  view  of  a  picture  of  the  crucifixion,  suppose  such  as  is 
commonly  placed,   and  with  this  very  design,  in  foreign 
churches,  and  indeed  in  many  of  our  own  ?     Both  the 
instances  here  adduced,   it  is  very  possible,   may  be  far 
from  being  approved,  even  by  those  who  are  under  the 


BUTLER.  347 

most  sincere  convictions  of  the  importance  of  true  reli- 
gion ;  and  it  is  easy  to  conceive  how  open  to  scorn  and 
censure  they  must  be  from  others,  who  think  they  have  a 
talent  for  ridicule,  and  have  accustomed  themselves  to 
regard  all  pretensions  to  piety  as  hypocritical  or  super- 
stitious. But  Wisdom  is  justified  of  her  children.  Re- 
ligion is  what  it  is,  whether  men  will  hear  or  whether 
they  will  forbear ;  and  whatever  in  the  smallest  degree 
promotes  its  interests,  and  assists  us  in  performing  its 
commands,  whether  that  assistance  be  derived  from  the 
medium  of  the  body  or  the  mind,  ought  to  be  esteemed 
of  great  weight,  and  deserving  of  our  most  serious  atten- 
tion.' 

Bishop  Butler  had  not  been  long  at  Durham  before  his 
health  began  visibly  to  decline.  His  resignation  duiing 
his  illness  was  what  was  to  be  expected  from  so  holy  a 
man.  Some  persons  ventured  to  speak  of  his  resignation 
in  his  presence,  when  he  expressed  a  wish  that  he  might 
be  spared  a  little  longer,  because  in  his  high  position  he 
had  so  much  opportunity  of  carrying  out  his  designs  for 
the  true  welfare  of  his  fellow  creatures.  After  consulting 
and  pursuing  the  course  recommended  by  the  most  emi- 
nent physicians  of  the  north,  his  indisposition  assumed 
a  more  serious  aspect,  and  he  was  advised  to  repair  to 
Clifton,  and  make  trial  of  the  waters  of  that  place.  These 
having  failed  to  produce  the  desired  effect,  his  removal  to 
Bath  was  suggested,  where  he  was  shortly  afterwards  con- 
veyed in  a  broken  and  exhausted  state,  and  where  he 
died  on  the  16th  of  June,  1752.  He  was  buried  at 
Bristol. 

It  so  happens  that  we  possess  a  minute  account  of  his 
long  illness  and  of  his  death,  by  his  devoted  friend  and 
chaplain,  Dr.  Forster,  who  never  left  him,  aud  who  injured 
his  health  by  his  incessant  attention  to  the  dying  prelate. 
The  original  letters  published  by  Bartlett  are  deposited  at 
Lambeth,  among  Archbishop  Seeker's  private  manuscripts. 
They  are  enclosed  in  a  paper  which  has  the  following 
inscription  in  the  hand-writing  of  that  prelate  ;  "  Letters 


348  BUTLER. 

from  Dr.  Forster  and  Bp.  Benson,  concerning  the  last 
illness  and  death  of  Bp.  Butler ;  to  be  kept  at  Lambeth, 
as  negative  arguments  against  the  calumny  of  his  dying 
a  papist."  It  is  disgraceful  to  the  Romanists  to  re-assert, 
as  they  have  done  of  late,  what  any  one  who  has  paid  the 
slightest  attention  to  the  subject  must  know  to  be  a  false- 
hood. But  although  the  falsehood  is  repeated  by  the 
Romanists,  the  sin  of  inventing  it  lies  at  the  door  of  the 
Ultra-protestants.  It  is  sad  to  see  two  extremes  uniting 
for  so  wicked  a  purpose.  Bishop  Porteus  refers  to  the 
imputation  of  this  apostacy  as  a  "  strange  slander,  founded 
on  the  weakest  pretences,  and  most  trivial  circumstances 
that  can  be  imagined  ;"  and  judiciously  adds,  "  Surely, 
it  is  a  very  unwise  piece  of  policy,  in  those  who  profess 
themselves  enemies  to  popery,  to  take  so  much  pains  to 
bring  the  most  respectable  names  within  its  pale ;  and  to 
give  it  the  merit  of  having  gained  over  those  who  were  the 
brightest  ornaments,  and  firmest  supporters  of  the  Pro- 
testant cause." 

The  author  of  these  volumes  has  been  censured  by  some 
of  his  critics  for  referring  to  modern  controversies  :  but 
the  cause  of  truth,  as  well  as  zeal  for  the  honour  of  the 
Church  of  England,  require  that  the  history  of  the  whole 
controversy  should  be  laid  before  the  reader  in  the  words 
of  Bishop  Halifax  : 

"  The  attack  was  made  in  the  year  1767,  in  an 
anonymous  pamphlet,  entitled  The  Root  of  Protestant 
Errors  examined  :  in  which  the  author  asserted,  that  '  by 
an  anecdote  lately  given  him,  that  same  prelate,'  who  at 
the  bottom  of  the  page  is  called  B—  p  of  D — m,  '  is  said 
to  have  died  in  the  communion  of  a  church,  that  makes 
much  use  of  saints,  saints'  days,  and  all  the  trumpery  of 
saint  worship.'  When  this  remarkable  fact,  now  first 
divulged,  came  to  be  generally  known,  it  occasioned,  as 
might  be  expected,  no  little  alarm  :  and  intelligence  of  it 
was  no  sooner  conveyed  to  Archbishop  Seeker,  than  in  a 
short  letter,  signed  Misopseudcs,  and  printed  in  the 
St.  James's  Chronicle  of  May  9,  he  called  upon  the  writer 


BUTLER.  849 

to  produce  his  authority  for  publishing  'so  gross  and 
scandalous  a  falsehood.'  To  this  challenge  an  immediate 
answer  was  returned  by  the  author  of  the  pamphlet,  who, 
now  assuming  the  name  of  Phileleutheros,  informed  Misop- 
seudes,  through  the  channel  of  the  same  paper,  that  '  such 
anecdote  had  been  given  him  ;  and  that  he  was  yet  of 
opinion  there  is  not  any  thing  improbable  in  it,  when  it 
is  considered  that  the  same  prelate  put  up  the  Popish 
insignia  of  the  cross  in  his  chapel,  when  at  Bristol ;  and 
in  his  last  episcopal  charge  has  squinted  very  much 
towards  that  superstition.'  Here  we  find  the  accusation 
not  only  repeated,  but  supported  by  reasons,  such  as  they 
are;  on  which  it  seemed  necessary  that  some  notice 
should  be  taken  ;  nor  did  the  Archbishop  conceive  it  un- 
becoming his  own  dignity  to  stand  up  on  this  occasion  as 
the  vindicator  of  innocence  against  the  calumniator  of  the 
helpless  dead.  Accordingly  in  a  second  letter  in  the  same 
newspaper  of  May  23,  and  subscribed  Misopseudes,  as 
before;  after  reciting  from  Bishop  Butlers  sermon  before 
the  Lords  the  very  passage,  here  printed  in  the  preface, 
and  observing  that  '  there  are  in  the  same  sermon  declara- 
tions as  strong  as  can  be  made  against  temporal  punish- 
ments, for  heresy,  schism,  or  even  for  irlolatiy  ;'  his  grace 
expresses  himself  thus  :  '  Now  he  (Bishop  Butler)  was 
universally  esteemed,  throughout  his  life,  a  man  of  strict 
piety  and  honesty,  as  well  as  uncommon  abilities.  He 
gave  all  the  proofs,  public  and  private,  which  his  station 
led  him  to  give,  and  they  were  decisive  and  daily,  of  his 
continuing  to  the  last  a  sincere  member  of  the  Church  of 
England.  Nor  had  ever  any  of  his  acquaintance,  or  most 
intimate  friends,  nor  have  they  to  this  day,  the  least  doubt 
of  it.'  As  to  putting  up  a  cross  in  this  chapel,  the  Arch- 
bishop frankly  owns,  that  for  himself  he  wishes  he  had 
not ;  and  thinks  that  in  so  doing  the  Bishop  did  amiss. 
But  then  he  asks,  '  Can  that  be  opposed  as  any  proof  of 
popeiy,  to  all  the  evidence  on  the  other  side ;  or  even 
to  the  single  evidence  of  the  above-mentioned  sermon  ? 
Most  of  our  churches  have  crosses  upon  them  ;  are  they 


350  BUTLER. 

therefore  Popish  churches?  The  Lutherans  have  more 
than  crosses  in  theirs  :  are  the  Lutherans  therefore  Pa- 
pists ?'  And  as  to  the  Charge,  no  Papist,  his  grace 
remarks,  would  have  spoken  as  Bishop  Butler  there  does, 
of  the  observances  pecuUar  to  Roman  Catholics,  some  of 
which  he  expressly  censures  as  wrong  and  superstitious, 
and  others,  as  made  subservient  to  the  purposes  of  super- 
stition, and  on  these  accounts,  abolished  at  the  reformation. 
After  the  publication  of  this  letter,  Phileleiitheros  replied 
in  a  short  defence  of  his  own  conduct,  but  without  pro- 
ducing any  thing  new  in  confirmation  of  what  he  had 
advanced.  And  here  the  controversy,  so  far  as  the  two 
principals  were  concerned,  seems  to  have  ended. 

"  But  the  dispute  was  not  suffered  to  die  away  quite  so 
soon.  For  in  the  same  year,  and  in  the  same  newspaper 
of  July  '2 1 ,  another  letter  appeared  ;  in  which  the  author 
not  only  contended  that  the  cross  in  the  episcopal  chapel 
at  Bristol,  and  the  charge  to  the  clergy  of  Durham  in 
1751,  amount  to  full  proof  of  a  strong  attachment  to  the 
idolatrous  communion  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  but,  with 
the  reader's  leave,  he  would  fain  account  for  the  Bishop's 
'tendency  this  way.'  And  this  he  attempted  to  do,  'from 
the  natural  melancholy  and  gloominess  of  Dr.  Butler's 
disposition ;  from  his  great  fondness  for  the  lives  of 
Romish  saints,  and  their  books  of  mystic  piety  ;  from  his 
drawing  his  notions  of  teaching  men  religion,  not  from  the 
New  Testament,  but  from  philosophical  and  political 
opinions  of  his  own ;  and  above  all,  from  his  transition 
from  a  strict  dissenter  amongst  the  Presbyterians  to  a 
rigid  Churchman,  and  his  sudden  and  unexpected  eleva- 
tion to  great  wealth  and  dignity  in  the  Church.'  The 
attack  thus  renewed  excited  the  Archbishop's  attention  a 
second  time,  and  drew  from  him  a  fresh  answer,  sub- 
scribed also  Misopseudes,  in  the  St.  James's  Chronicle  of 
August  4.  In  this  letter  our  excellent  Metropolitan,  first 
of  all  obliquely  hinting  at  the  unfairness  of  sitting  in 
judgment  on  the  character  of  a  man  who  had  been  dead 
fifteen  years  ;  and  then  reminding  his  correspondent,  that 


BUTLER.  351 

•  full  proof  had  been  already  published  that  Bishop  Butler 
abhorred  popery  as  a  vile  corruption  of  Christianity,  and 
that  it  might  be  proved,  if  needful,  that  he  held  the  Pope 
to  be  Antichrist ;'  (^to  which  decisive  testimonies  of  un- 
doubted aversion  from  the  Romish  Church,  another  is  also 
added  in  the  postscript,  his  taking,  when  promoted  to  the 
see  of  Durham,  for  his  domestic  chaplain.  Dr.  Nathaniel 
Forster,  who  had  published,  not  four  years  before,  a 
sermon,  entitled,  Popery  destructive  of  the  Evidence  of 
Christianity ;)  proceeds  to  observe,  '  That  the  natural 
melancholy  of  the  Bishops  temper  would  rather  have 
fixed  him  amongst  his  first  friends,  than  prompted  him  to 
the  change  he  made  :  That  he  read  books  of  all  sorts,  as 
well  as  books  of  mystic  piety,  and  knew  how  to  pick  the 
good  that  was  in  them  out  of  the  bad  :  that"  his  opinions 
were  exposed  without  reserve  in  his  Analogy  and  his 
sermons,  and  if  the" doctrine  of  either  be  Popish  or  un- 
scriptural,  the  learned  world  hath  mistaken  strangely  in 
admiring  both  :  that  instead  of  being  a  strict  dissenter,  he 
never  was  a  communicant  in  any  dissenting  assembly ;  on 
the  contrary,  that  he  went  occasionally,  from  his  early 
years,  to  the  established  worship,  and  became  a  constant 
conformist  to  it,  when  he  was  barely  of  age,  and  entered 
himself,  in  1714,  of  Oriel  College:  that  his  elevation  to 
great  dignity  in  the  Church,  far  from  being  sudden  and 
unexpected,  was  a  gradual  and  natural  rise,  through  a 
variety  of  preferments,  and  a  period  of  3*2  years  :  that  as 
Bishop  of  Durham  he  had  very  little  authority  beyond  his 
brethren,  and  in  ecclesiastical  matters  had  none  beyond 
them  ;  a  larger  income  than  most  of  them  he  had ;  but 
this  he  employed,  not,  as  was  insinuated,  in  augmenting 
the  poir.p  of  worship  in  his  cathedral,  where  indeed,  it  is 
no  greater  than  in  others,  but  for  the  pui-poses  of  charity, 
and  in  the  repairing  of  his  houses.'  After  these  remarks, 
the  letter  closes  with  these  words  :  '  Upon  the  whole,  few 
accusations,  so  entirely  groundless,  have  been  so  pertina- 
ciously, 1  am  unwilling  to  say  maliciously,  carried  on,  as 


35S  BUTLER. 

the  present ;  and  surely  it  is  high  time  for  the  authors 
and  abettors  of  it,  in  mere  common  prudence,  to  shew 
some  regard,  if  not  to  truth,  at  least  to  shame.' 

"  It  only  remains  to  be  mentioned,  that  the  above 
letters  of  Archbishop  Seeker  had  such  an  effect  on  a  writer 
who  signed  himself  in  the  St.  James's  Chronicle  of 
August  25,  A  dissenting  Minister,  that  he  declared  it  as 
his  opinion  that  '  the  author  of  the  pamphlet,  called  The 
Root  of  Protestant  Errors  examined,  and  his  friends, 
were  obHged  in  candour,  in  justice,  and  in  honour,  to  re- 
tract their  charge,  unless  they  could  establish  it  on  much 
better  grounds  than  had  hitherto  appeared ;'  and  he  ex- 
pressed his  '  hopes  that  it  would  be  understood  that  the 
dissenters  in  general  had  no  hand  in  the  accusation,  and 
that  it  had  only  been  the  act  of  two  or  three  mistaken 
m.en.'  Another  person  also,  '  a  foreigner  by  birth,'  as  he 
says  of  himself,  who  had  been  long  an  admirer  of  Bishop 
Butler,  and  had  perused  with  great  attention  all  that  had 
been  written  on  both  sides  in  the  present  controversy, 
confesses  he  had  been  '  wonderfully  pleased  with  ob- 
serving, with  what  candour  and  temper,  as  well  as  clear- 
ness and  solidity,  he  was  vindicated  from  the  aspersions 
laid  against  him.'  All  the  adversaries  of  our  prelate, 
however,  had  not  the  virtue  or  sense  to  be  thus  convinced; 
some  of  them  still  continued,  under  the  signatures  of  Old 
Martin,  Latimer,  An  impartial  Protestant,  Paulinus, 
Misonothos,  to  repeat  their  confuted  falsehoods  in  the 
public  prints ;  as  if  the  curse  of  calumniators  had  fallen 
upon  them,  and  their  memory,  by  being  long  a  traitor  to 
truth,  had  taken  at  last  a  severe  revenge,  and  compelled 
them  to  credit  their  own  lie.  The  first  of  these  gentlemen, 
Old  Martin,  who  dates  from  N-c-est-e,  May  29,  from  the 
rancour  and  malignity  with  which  his  letter  abounds,  and 
from  the  particular  virulence  he  discovers  towards  the 
characters  of  Bishop  Butler  and  his  defender,  I  conjecture 
to  be  no  other  than  the  very  person  who  had  already 
figured  in  this  dispute,  so  early  as  the  year  1752." 


BUTLER.  853 

It  is  impossible  to  read  of  this  attempt  to  make  over  to 
our  opponents  one  of  the  greatest  lights  of  our  Church, 
without  being  reminded  of  the  following  anecdote  related 
by  Dean  Tucker.  "  The  late  Bishop  of  Durham  had  a 
singular  notion  respecting  large  communities  and  public 
bodies ;  a  notion  which  is  not  perhaps  altogether  inappli- 
cable to  the  present  case.  His  custom  was  when  at  Bristol, 
to  walk  for  hours  in  his  garden  in  the  darkest  night  which 
the  time  of  the  year  could  afford,  and  I  had  frequently 
the  honour  to  attend  him.  After  walking  some  time  he 
would  stop  suddenly  and  ask  the  question,  '  what  security 
is  there  against  the  insanity  of  individuals  ?  The  physi- 
cians know  of  none ;  and  as  to  divines,  we  have  no  data 
either  from  Scripture  or  from  reason,  to  go  upon  relative 
to  this  affair.'  '  True,  my  lord,  no  man  has  a  lease  of  his 
understanding,  any  more  than  of  his  life  ;  they  are  both 
in  the  hands  of  the  Sovereign  Disposer  of  all  things.'  He 
would  then  take  another  turn,  and  again  stop  short ;  '  Why 
might  not  whole  communities  and  public  bodies  be  seized 
with  fits  of  insanity,  as  well  as  individuals  ?'  '  My  lord,  I 
have  never  considered  the  case,  and  can  give  no  opinion 
concerning  it.'  '  Nothing  but  this  principle,  that  they  are 
liable  to  insanity,  equally  at  least  with  private  persons, 
can  account  for  the  major  part  of  those  transactions  of 
which  we  read  in  history.'  "  I  thought  little,"  adds  the 
dean,  "of  that  odd  conceit  of  the  Bishop  at  that  juncture  ; 
but  I  own  I  could  not  avoid  thinking  of  it  a  great  deal 
since,  and  applying  it  to  many  cases." — Butlers  works. 
Halifax,     Bartlett. 

BUTLER,  ALBAN. 

Alban  Butler  was  born  in  Northampton,  in  1710. 
After  passing  a  short  time  at  a  school  in  Lancashire,  he 
was  sent,  in  his  eighth  year,  to  the  English  Roman 
Catholic  College  at  Douay,  where  he  applied  himself  with 
dihgence  to  his  studies,  and  was  remarkable  for  his  early 
VOL.  in.  2  H 


354  BUTLER. 

piety.  After  completing  his  course,  he  was  admitted  an 
alumnus,  and  appointed  professor  of  philosophy,  in  lec- 
turing on  which  he  followed  the  Newtonian  system,  then 
gaiuing  ground  in  the  foreign  universities,  in  preference 
to  the  systems  of  Wolf  and  Leibnitz,  in  which  he  dis- 
covered some  things  irreconcilable  with  the  opinions  of 
the  Church.  He  was  next  appointed  professor  of  divinity, 
and  while  at  this  College  published  his  first  work.  Letters 
on  the  History  of  the  Popes,  published  by  Mr.  Archibald 
Bower.  Id  this  work  he  thus  expresses  himself  on  the 
celebrated  questions,  of  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope  and 
his  right  to  the  deposing  power :  "Mr.  Bower  having  been 
educated  in  the  (Roman)  Catholic  schools,  could  not  but 
know,  that,  though  some  private  divines  think  that  the 
Pope,  by  the  assistance  of  some  special  providence,  cannot 
err  in  the  decisions  of  faith  solemnly  published  by  him, 
with  the  mature  advice  of  his  council,  or  of  the  clergy  or 
divines  of  his  Church,  yet,  that  this  is  denied  by  others  ; 
and  that  the  learned  Bossuet  and  many  others,  especially 
of  the  school  of  Sorbon,  have  written  warmly  against  that 
opinion  ;  and  that  no  (Roman)  Catholic  looks  upon  it  as 
an  article  or  term  of  communion.  It  is  the  infallibility  of 
the  whole  Church,  whether  assembled  in  a  general  council, 
or  dispersed  over  the  world,  of  which  they  speak  in  their 
controversial  disputations.  Yet  this  writer,  at  every  turn, 
confounds  these  two  things  together,  only  to  calumniate 
and  impose  on  the  public.  If  he  had  proved  that  some 
Popes  had  erred  in  faith,  he  would  have  no  more  defeated 
the  article  of  supremacy,  than  he  would  disinherit  a  king 
by  arraigning  him  of  bad  policy.  The  (Roman)  Catholic 
faith  teaches  the  Pope  to  be  the  supreme  pastor  of  the 
Church  established  by  Christ,  and  that  this  Church, 
founded  by  Christ  on  a  rock,  shall  never  be  overcome  by 
hell,  or  cease  to  be  His  true  spouse.  For  He  has  promised, 
that  His  true  spirit  shall  direct  it  in  all  truth  to  the  end  of 
the  world.  But  Mr.  Bower  never  found  the  infallibility 
of  the  Pope  in  our  creed ;   and  knows  very  well  that  no 


BUTLER.  355 

such  article  is  proposed  by  the  Church,  or  required  of  any 
one.  Therefore  the  whole  chain  of  his  boastings,  which  is 
conducted  through  the  work,  falls  to  the  ground. 

"  What  he  writes  against  the  deposing  power  in  Popes, 
certainly  cannot  be  made  a  reproach  against  the  (Roman) 
Catholics  of  England,  France,  Spain,  &c.  It  is  a  doctrine 
neither  taught  nor  tolerated  in  any  (Roman)  Catholic 
kingdom  that  I  know  of,'  and  which  many  (Roman)  Ca- 
tholics write  as  warmly  against  as  Mr.  Bower  could 
wish." 

In  1745  he  accompanied  the  late  Earl  of  Shrewsbuiy, 
and  the  Hon.  John  and  Thomas  Talbot  in  their  travels 
through  France  and  Italy,  of  which  he  wrote  a  full  account, 
said  to  be  entertaining  aod  interesting.  On  his  return 
from  these  travels  he  was  sent  on  the  English  mission. 
He  had  long  been  engaged  on  his  laborious  work,  the 
Lives  of  the  Saints,  and  was  then  bringing  it  to  a  con- 
clusion ;  he  naturally  wished,  therefore,  to  be  settled  in 
London,  where  he  might  have  access  to  literary  society 
and  the  public  libraries,  with  a  view  to  complete  the 
Lives  of  the  Saints,  on  which  he  had  long  been  engaged ; 
but  the  vicar  apostolic  of  the  middle  district  claimed 
him,  as  belonging  to  that  district,  and  appointed  him  to  a 
mission  in  Staffordshire.  This  was  a  severe  mortification 
to  him,  and  he  remonstrated,  but  in  vain ;  the  vicar 
apostolic  was  inexorable,  and  required  his  immediate 
obedience.  Here,  however,  he  did  not  remain  long,  being 
appointed  chaplain  to  Edward,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  to 
superintend  the  education  of  Mr.  Edward  Howard,  his 
nephew  and  presumptive  heir,  whom  he  accompanied 
abroad.  During  his  residence  at  Paris,  he  completed  and 
sent  to  press  his  Lives  of  the  Saints,  which  is  said  to  have 
cost  him  the  labour  of  thirty  years.  In  the  first  edition, 
at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Challoner,  the  vicar  apostolic  of 
the  London  district,  the  notes  were  omitted.  The  notion 
of  the  vicar  apostolic  was,  that  by  being  less  bulky,  the 
work  might  be  less  expensive,  and  consequently  more 
generally  useful.     It  is  easy  to  conjecture  what  it  must 


856  BUTLER. 

have  cost  the  obedient  author  to  consign  to  oblivion 
the  fmit  of  so  much  labour.  He  obeyed,  and  the  first 
edition  was  published  without  the  notes.  From  Butler  s 
want  of  critical  discernment,  his  credulity,  and  the  very 
strong  bias  of  his  mind,  which  perverts  the  meaning  of 
early  writers,  when  their  sentiments  stand  directly  opposed 
to  the  dogmas  of  the  modern  Church  of  Rome,  this  work 
cannot  be  regarded  as  in  any  respect  a  work  of  authority. 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  it  is  so  much  read  by  the 
less  learned  of  English  churchmen,  who  may  be  led  astray 
by  the  many  false  statements  which  the  author,  through 
prejudice,  and  sometimes  through  want  of  scholai-ship, 
has  unintentionally  made ; — unintentionally,  for  he  was 
too  good  a  man  intentionally  to  deceive, — but  he  could  not 
believe  that  any  ancient  saint  could  utter  sentiments  not 
accordant  with  modern  Romanism,  and  he  doubtless  mis- 
represented their  opinions  to  himself,  before  he  misrepre- 
sented them  to  others.  Some  years  after,  he  published 
the  life  of  Mary  of  the  Cross,  a  nun  in  the  English 
convent  of  the  poor  Clares  at  Rouen. 

Some  time  after  his  return  to  England  from  his  travels 
w4th  Mr.  Edward  Howard,  he  was  chosen  president  of  the 
English  College  at  St.  Omer,  in  which  station  he  continued 
till  his  death.  Some  interesting  anecdotes  are  given  of 
him  while  in  this  station,  in  a  letter  from  L'Abbe  de  la 
Sepouze  to  Charles  Butler,  his  nephew  and  biographer. 
Speaking  of  himself  he  says,  "  Monsieur  de  Conzie,  now 
Bishop  of  Arras,  having  been  raised  to  the  see  of  St.  Omer 
in  1766,  caused  me  to  be  elected  a  canon  in  his  cathedral 
church ;  he  nominated  me  one  of  his  vicars-general,  and  I 
repaired  thither  on  the  5th  of  October,  1767. 

"That  prelate,  whose  high  reputation  dispenses  with 
my  encomiums,  mentioned  your  uncle  to  me,  on  the  very 
day  of  my  arrival.  '  I  am  here  possessed,'  said  he,  '  of  a 
hidden  treasure,  and  that  is  Mr.  Butler;  the  president  of 
the  English  College.  I  for  the  first  time  saw  him,'  added 
he,  'during  the  ceremony  of  my  installation.  He  was 
kneeling  on  the  pavement  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd ;    his 


BUTLER.  35-7 

countenance  and  deportment  had  something  heavenly  in 
them  :  I  enquired  who  he  was  ;  and  upon  his  being  named 
to  me,  I  caused  him,  though  reluctant,  to  be  conducted  to 
one  of  the  first  stalls  in  the  choir.  I  will  entreat  him,' 
said  moreover  the  prelate,  '  to  favour  you  with  his  friend- 
ship ;  he  shall  be  your  counsel,  you  cannot  have  a  better.' 
I  made  answer,  that  IMonsieur  de  Beaumont,  the  illustri- 
ous Archbishop  of  Paris,  in  whose  palace  I  had  enjoyed 
the  invaluable  benefit  of  passing  two  years,  had  often 
spoken  of  him  to  me  in  the  most  honourable  terms ; 
that  he  had  commissioned  me,  at  my  departure,  to  renew 
to  him  the  assurance  of  his  particular  esteem ;  and 
that  I  would  neglect  nothing  to  be  thought  worthy  of  his 
benevolence. 

"I  was  so  happy  as  to  succeed  in  it  within  a  short  time. 
His  lordship  the  Bishop  condescended  to  wish  me  joy  of 
it,  and  entrusted  me  with  the  design  he  had  formed,  of 
honouring  the  assembly  of  his  vicars-general  by  making 
him  our  colleague.  I  was  present  when  he  delivered  to 
him  his  credentials ;  which  moment  will  never  forsake  my 
remembrance.  I  beheld  your  dear  uncle  suddenly  casting 
himself  at  the  prelate's  knees,  and  beseeching  him,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  not  to  lay  that  burden  upon  him.  'Ah ! 
my  lord,'  said  he  to  him,  '  I  am  unable  to  fill  so  important 
a  place  ;'  nor  did  he  yield  but  upon  an  express  command  : 
'  Since  you  require  it  shall  be  so,'  said  he,  '  I  vdW  obey ;  that 
is  the  first  of  ray  duties.'  What  an  abundant  source  of 
reflections  was  this  for  me,  who  was  then  but  twenty-six 
years  of  age.  It  was  then  especially  that  I  resolved  to 
make  up  for  my  inexperience,  by  taking  him  for  my  guide 
who  had  been  giving  me  that  great  example  of  Christian 
humility. 

"  The  Bishop  had  already  shewed  him  his  confidence, 
by  placing  his  own  nephew  in  the  English  College,  as  also 
that  of  the  Bishop  of  Senlis,  his  friend  and  the  son  of  one 
of  his  countrymen.  I  had  the  charge  of  visiting  them  fre- 
quently. I  used  to  send  for  them,  to  dine  with  me  on 
2h  -2 


358  BUTLER. 

every  school  holiday.  If  one  of  them  had  been  guilty  of  a 
fault,  the  punishment  I  inflicted  was,  that  he  should  desire 
Mr.  Butler  to  keep  him  at  home.  But  it  almost  always 
proved  useless  ;  he  would  himself  bring  me  the  delinquent, 
and  earnestly  solicit  his  pardon;  'Depend  upon  it,'  said  he 
to  me  one  day,  '  he  will  behave  better  for  the  future.'  I 
asked  him  what  proof  he  had  of  it.  '  Sir,'  answered  he,  in 
the  presence  of  the  lad,  'he  has  told  me  so.'  I  could  not 
forbear  smiling  at  such  confidence  in  the  promises  of  a 
school-boy  of  ten  years  old ;  but  was  not  long  before  I 
repented.  In  a  private  conversation  he  observed  to  me, 
that  one  of  the  most  important  rules  in  education  is  to 
impress  children  with  a  persuasion  that  the  vices  we  would 
keep  them  from,  such  as  lying,  and  breaking  one  s  word, 
are  too  shocking  to  be  thought  possible.  A  maxim  this, 
worthy  of  the  great  Fenelon,  his  beloved  model,  and  which 
common  tutors  do  not  so  much  as  surmise." 

He  had  projected  many  works  besides  those  already 
mentioned,  and  among  them,  his  treatise  on  the  Moveable 
Feasts,  which  was  published  after  his  death.  He  proposed 
■writing  the  lives  of  Bishop  Fisher  and  Sir  Thomas  More, 
and  had  made  copious  collections  for  both.  He  had  begun 
a  treatise  on  Natural  and  Revealed  Religion,  being  dissatis- 
fied with  what  Bergier  had  published  on  those  subjects. 
Three  volumes  of  his  discourses  have  been  published  since 
his  decease.  His  literary  correspondence  was  very  exten- 
sive, and  among  other  correspondents  of  distinction,  may 
be  mentioned  the  learned  Lambertini,  afterwards  Pope 
Benedict  XIV.,  and  the  late  Dr.  Lowth,  Bishop  of  London; 
and  the  assistance  he  afforded  to  Englishmen  of  literature 
has  been  liberally  acknowledged  by  Dr.  Kennicott,  and 
others.  He  died  in  1773.  His  Lives  of  the  Saints  was 
first  published  in  1745,  5  vols,  4to;  and  in  1779,  or  1780, 
an  edition  was  published  at  Dublin,  in  12  vols,  8vo ;  and 
in  1799,  1800,  at  Edinburgh,  in  the  same  form,  to  which 
his  nephew,  Charles  Butler,  Esq.,  barrister-at-law,  prefixed 
an  account  of  his  life.     Many  editions  have  been  subse- 


BUTLER.  359 

quentlj  published,  and  some  of  them  remarkable  for  their 
cheapness. — Lives  of  the  Saints  with  Life  of  Charles  Butler 
prefixed. 

BUTLER,    CHARLES. 

Charles  Butler  was  born  in  1559,  at  High  Wycomb, 
in  Buckinghamshire,  and  entered  a  commoner  at 
Magdalen  Hall,  Oxford,  in  1579,  where  he  took  a  degree 
in  arts,  and  was  afterwards  elected  one  of  the  Bible  Clerks 
of  Magdalen  College.  Soon  after  he  became  master  of  the 
free  school  at  Basingstoke,  in  Hampshire,  and  was  curate 
of  a  small  parish  in  the  neighbourhood.  Here  lie  remain- 
ed for  about  seven  years.  About  1600  he  was  promoted 
to  the  vicarage  of  Lawrence  Wotton,  in  Hampshire,  where 
he  remained  until  his  death,  in  1647.  He  wrote — 1.  The 
Feminine  Monarchy"  or  a  Treatise  on  Bees,  Oxon.  1609, 
8vo,  and  Lond.  1623,  Oxon.  1634,  4to ;  a  work  not  more 
curious  for  its  matter  than  for  the  manner  of  printing, 
abounding  in  new  characters,  and  a  very  singular  mode  of 
orthography.  It  was  afterwards  translated  into  Latin  by 
Richard  Richardson,  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge, 
Lond.  1673,  8vo,  and  is  quoted  by  Dr.  Johnson  in  the 
preface  to  his  dictionary.  "2.  Rhetoricae  Libri  duo,  Oxon. 
1618;  often  reprinted.  3.  De  Propinquitate  Matrimo- 
nium  impediente  Regula  Generalis,  (on  the  marriage  of 
cousin-germans,)  a  work  much  approved  by  Dr.  Prideaux, 
Oxon.  1625,  4to.  4.  Oratorias  Libri  duo,  Oxon.  1633, 
4to,  Lond.  1635,  8vo.  5.  English  Grammar,  Oxon.  1634, 
4to.  6.  The  Principles  of  Music,  Lond.  1636,  4to.  This 
last  is  highly  praised  by  Dr.  Bumey  in  his  History  of 
Music. — Ath.  Ox.    Fuller. 


butler,    JOHN. 

John  Butler  was  born  at   Hamburgh  in  1717.     He 
was  a  popular  London  preacher,  but  was  chiefly  known  as 


360  BUXTORF. 

a  political  writer,  and  though  he  never  graduated  at  either 
university,  rose  from  being  chaplain  to  the  King  and  pre- 
bendary of  Winchester  to  be  Bishop  of  Oxford,  in  177T, 
from  whence  he  removed  to  Hereford  where  he  died  in 
1802.  What  his  character  was  may  be  gathered  from  the 
fact  that  the  Letters  of  Junius  were,  though  without  foun- 
dation, at  one  time  ascribed  to  him.  He  published  some 
occasional  sermons  and  charges. — Gen.  Bloc/ :  Diet. 


BUXTOEF,    JOHN. 

John  Buxtorf  was  born  in  1564  at  Camen  in  Westpha- 
lia. He  was  a  Calvinist,  and  became  a  minister  at  Basle, 
where  he  was  also  a  professor  of  the  Hebrew  and  Chaldean 
languages.  He  availed  himself  during  his  studies  of  the 
assistance  of  the  ablest  Jews,  and  from  them  he  acquired 
a  fondness  for  rabbinical  learning.  His  first  publication 
was,  Synagoge  Judaica,  printed  at  Basle,  in  German, 
1603  ;  and  at  Hanau,  in  Latin,  1604.  His  next  work  was 
an  Epitome  Radicum  Hebraicarum,  &c.,  Bas.  1607  ;  and 
in  the  same  year  his  Lexicon  Hebraicum,  &c. ;  in  1609, 
his  Thesaurus  Grammaticus  Linguae  Hebr. ;  followed,  in 
1610,  by  his  Institutio  Epistolar.  Hebraic,  published  for 
the  benefit  of  those  who  might  wish  to  correspond  in 
Hebrew.  To  this  succeeded  his  treatise  De  Abbreviaturis 
Hebraeorum,  &c.,  Bas.  1613;  and  in  1618  appeared  his 
Hebrew  Bible,  in  4  folio  vols  ;  accompanied  with  the  re- 
marks of  Ptabbio  interpreters,  Chaldaic  paraphrases,  and 
the  Massorah.  To  this  is  generally  added  the  Tiberias, 
published  by  his  grandson,  at  Basle,  in  1665,  which  is  a 
commentary  on  the  Massorah,  and  contains  an  explanation 
of  the  terms  used  in  it,  according  to  the  interpretation  of 
Elias  the  Levite.  After  his  death  was  published,  likewise, 
his  Lexicon  Chaldaicum,  in  1639  ;  and  in  the  very  year  of 
his  decease,  his  Concordantise  Hebraicae.  He  died  Sept. 
13,    1629. — Moreri.    Saxii  Onomast.     Baillet  Jugemens. 


BYAM.  361 

BUXTOEF,    JOHN. 

John  Buxtorf,  son  of  the  above,  was  bom  at  Basil  in 
1599.  He  succeeded  his  father  in  the  professorship  ;  and 
defended  the  antiquity  of  the  Hebrew  vowel  points  with 
great  zeal  against  Capellus,  in  a  book  entitled,  Tractatus 
de  punctorum  vocaUum  et  accentuum  in  libris  Veteris 
Testamenti  HebraicisB  origine,  antiquitate,  and  auctoritate, 
1648.  He  pubUshed,  likewise,  a  Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  and 
Syriac  Lexicon  and  Grammar,  in  1622  ;  and  after  writing 
various  dissertations  on  diflferent  points  of  Jewish  litera- 
ture, died  August  16,  1664.  It  is  to  him  we  owe  a  trans- 
lation of  the  Moreh  Nevochim  of  Maimonides,  printed  at 
Basle,  1629,  and  of  some  other  rabbinical  works  ;  amongst 
which  is  the  Liber  Cosri,  in  Hebrew  and  Latin,  Basle, 
1622,  where  the  Hebrew  is  said  to  be  the  translation  of  a 
lost  Arabic  work.  He  had  partly  prepared  for  the  press  a 
collection  of  the  passages  wherein  the  Greek  Septuagint 
differs  from  the  Hebrew.  But  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  1664,  prevented  his  completing  his  design.  The  two 
Buxtorfs  are  severely  censured  by  Father  Simon,  but  are 
as  highly  praised  by  other  Hebrew  scholars. — Moreri. 
Fraheri  Theatrum.     Saxii  Onomast. 


BYAM,  HENRY. 

Henry  Byam  was  bom  at  East  Luckham,  of  which 
place  his  father  was  rector,  in  the  year  1580.  The  follow- 
ing account  of  him  is  given  by  Walker,  in  his  Sufferings 
of  the  Clergy  : 

"  He  was  sent  first  to  Exeter  College  in  Oxford,  and 
thence  elected  student  of  Christ  Church.  Upon  the  death 
of  his  father,  about  the  year  1612,  he  succeeded  in 
Luckham;  and  March  17th,  1631,  (on  the  death  of 
Sampson  Strode)  was  collated  to  a  prebend  in  this  church. 
About  that  time  also  he  served  the  clergy  of  Somersetshire 
in  convocation.     Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion 


362  BYAM. 

he  was  seized  by  Blake  (then  a  captain  of  dragoons,  after- 
wards Oliver's  general  at  sea^l  and  was  the  first  person  so 
used,  for  his  majesty's  service.  After  some  time  of  im- 
prisonment, he  made  his  escape,  and  fled  to  his  majesty 
at  Oxford ;  and  was  made  D.D.  there.  He  had  at  that 
time  raised  both  men  and  horses  for  the  King's  service, 
and  engaged  his  five  sons  in  the  same  most  righteous 
cause.  His  whole  income,  as  well  spiritual  as  temporal, 
was  by  that  means  exposed  to  rapine,  plunder,  and  seques- 
tration, his  children  to  distress  and  danger,  and  himself 
to  many  grievous  shifts  and  exigencies.  His  wife  and 
daughter  were  left  at  home,  and  being  perpetually  har- 
rassed  by  the  rebels,  were  at  last  constrained  to  fly  for 
Wales ;  which  attempting  by  sea,  they  were  both  lost, 
together  with  all  the  remainder  of  what  treasure  the 
barbarous  ravagers  had  spared,  or  rather  had  been  con- 
cealed from  them.  Of  his  sons,  four  were  captains  in  the 
service  ;  and  some  of  them  honourably  lost  their  lives  in 
it.  When  Prince  Charles  fled  out  of  England,  first  to 
Scilly,  and  afterwards  to  Jersey,  this  excellent  doctor 
attended  him,  and  was  left  as  his  chaplain  at  the  castle  of 
Elizabeth,  in  the  last-mentioned  island  ;  where  he  re- 
mained till  it  was  taken  by  the  parliament ;  and  from 
that  time  till  the  Restoration,  he  lived  in  a  poor  obscure 
condition.  However,  he  survived  all  those  miseries,  and 
upon  the  Restoration  was  made  canon  of  this  church  (in 
the  room  of  Edward  Cotton  deceased,  to  which  dignity 
he  was  admitted  September  15th,  1660)  and  prebendary 
of  Wells.  He  died  at  Luckham,  June  16th,  1669,  in  the 
89th  year  of  his  age.  He  was,  saith  Wood,  whilst  young, 
one  of  the  greatest  ornaments  of  the  university,  and  the 
most  noted  person  there  for  his  excellent  and  polite 
learning ;  and  was  afterwards  looked  upon  as  the  most 
acute  and  eminent  preacher  of  his  age.  He  bore  his 
sufferings  with  great  patience;  and  was  a  person  of  so 
much  modesty,  that  it  is  well  known,  would  he  have  sought 
after  it,  he  might  have  died  a  Bishop,  which  honourable 
function   he  really  deserved,  not  only  for  sanctity  of  life, 


BZOVIUS.  363 

but  for  learning,  charity,  and  loyalty,  scarce  to  be  equalled 
by  any  in  the  age  he  lived.  He  was  succeeded  in  his 
prebend  by  Francis  Moor,  A.M.,  who  was  collated  to  it 
June  19th,  1669,  and  in  his  canonry  by  Oliver  Naylor, 
elecv.d  to  it  the  '^6th  of  the  same  month  and  year." 

BZOVIUS,  ABEAHAM. 

Abeaham  Bzovius  was  born  at  Prosovity,  in  Poland,  in 
1567.  Thomas  Ostola,  his  father,  and  Magdalene  Vesicia, 
his  mother,  died  before  he  was  a  year  old,  and  he  was 
educated  by  his  grandmother  on  the  mother's  side.  He 
made  such  progress  under  the  instruction  of  one  of  his 
uncles,  that  at  ten  years  old  he  could  write  Latin,  compose 
in  music,  and  make  verses.  After  this,  he  went  to  con- 
tinue his  studies  at  Cracow,  and  there  took  the  habit  of  a 
Dominican.  Being  sent  into  Italy,  he  read  some  lectures 
of  philosophy  at  Milan,  and  of  divinity  at  Bologna.  After 
he  returned  into  his  own  country,  he  preached  in  Posnania 
and  in  Cracow,  with  the  applause  of  all  his  hearers  ;  and 
taught  philosophy  and  divinity.  He  was  principal  of  a 
college  of  his  own  order.  He  founded  a  fraternity  of  the 
Piosaria;  he  consecrated  a  chapel  to  the  image  of  St.  Mary 
the  great,  which  he  brought  from  Piome  to  Cracow;  be 
furnished  the  libraiy  of  the  Dominicans  with  a  great 
number  of  books ;  he  pacified  Poland ;  he  caused  the 
church  of  St.  Hyacenthus  to  be  built  in  Warsaw,  and 
rendered  other  services  to  his  country,  but  especially  to 
the  Dominican  order,  to  the  interests  of  which  he  was 
attached  with  bigotry.  At  the  same  time  he  astonished 
the  world  by  the  fecundity  of  his  pen.  Some  persons 
maintain  that  it  is  no  hyperbole  to  say  that  he  composed 
more  books  than  others  have  read.  Two  pages  folio  could 
hardly  contain  the  titles  only  of  his  works.  His  chief 
work  is  the  continuation  of  Baronius, — a  work  extendiug 
to  twelve  folio  volumes,  of  which  the  first  eight  appeared 
at  Cologne,  between  1616  and  1635.  These  brought  down 
the  history  of  the  Church  from  the  end  of  the  pontificate 


364  BZOVIUS. 

of  Celestine  III,  when  Baronius  concluded,  to  the  year 
1564.  Another  volume  appeared  after  the  author's  death, 
in  1672,  which  continued  the  history  to  1572.  But  no 
more  was  published.  Though  written  on  the  same  prin- 
ciples as  those  adopted  by  Baronius,  it  has  been  almost 
universally  regarded  as  inferior  to  the  work  it  was  designed 
to  continue.  It  never  enjoyed  any  high  degree  of  reputa- 
tion. In  one  thing  he  especially  resembled  Baronius, 
namely,  in  his  ser\dle  attachment  to  the  interests  of  the 
court  of  Rome,  and  therefore  when  he  went  to  Rome  he 
was  received  with  distinction  by  the  Pope,  and  lodged  in 
the  Vatican.  Nevertheless,  his  inconsiderate  and  violent 
zeal  occasioned  him  to  take  steps  of  which  he  had  reason 
to  repent.  He  had  treated  with  severity  the  memory  of  the 
Emperor  Lewis  of  Bavaria,  and  erased  him  ignominiously 
out  of  the  catalogue  of  emperors.  The  duke  of  Bavaria 
was  so  incensed  at  this  audaciousness,  that,  not  satisfied 
with  causing  an  apology  to  be  written  for  that  emperor, 
he  brought  an  action  in  form  against  the  annalist,  and  had 
him  condemned  to  make  a  public  recantation.  Bzovius 
did  not  escape  for  this  disgrace  :  he  was  severely  treated 
in  the  apology  of  Lewis  of  Bavaria,  published  by  George 
Herwart ;  who  affirms,  that  Bzovius  had  not  acted  in  his 
annals  like  a  man  of  honesty,  or  wit,  or  judgment,  or 
memory,  or  any  other  good  quality  of  a  writer.  Indeed 
he  has  been  treated  quite  as  severely  by  Roman  Catholic 
as  by  Protestant  writers.  The  Franciscans  and  the 
Jesuits  were  especially  provoked  with  him,  and  their 
hostility  was  more  formidable  than  that  of  the  duke.  His 
partiality  to  his  own  order  was  such,  that  some  persons 
have  regarded  his,  as  the  history  rather  of  the  Dominicans 
than  of  the  Church. 

Bzovius  quitted  his  residence  at  the  Vatican  a  short 
time  before  his  deatli,  and  retired  to  the  convent  of 
Minerva  at  Rome,  terrified  by  the  murder  of  one  of  his 
servants,  and  mortified  by  the  loss  of  a  large  sum  of 
money,  which  the  murderer  carried  off.  He  died  in  the 
year  1637.     Moreri.    BayU.   Bowling. 


CABASILAS.  365 


CABASILAS,    MLUS. 


KiLUS  Cabastlas  was  x\rchbishop  of  Thessalonica  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  under  the  empire  of  the  Andronicus 
dynasty.  He  \Yr()te  two  treatises  against  the  Latins  ;  the 
first  to  make  it  appear,  that  the  cause  of  the  division  of  the 
Greeks  and  Latins,  arises  from  this,  that  the  Pope  is  not 
willing  that  any  controverted  question  should  be  decided 
by  the  judgment  of  an  (Ecumenical  Council ;  but  will  be 
the  sole  judge,  and  othei*s  must  hearken  to  him,  as  their 
master.  He  demonstrates  by  the  examples  of  ancient 
Popes,  by  the  usage  of  the  Church,  and  by  divers  reasons, 
that  it  is  seasonable  to  call  a  council ;  and  that  it  is  the 
only  expedient  to  settle  union,  and  to  decide  the  question 
about  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  second  trea- 
tise is  of  the  Pope's  primacy,  in  which  he  proves  that  the 
Pope  holds  his  primacy  by  laws,  councils,  and  princes.  He 
there  asserts  that  the  Pope  is  not  infallible,  and  proves  it 
by  the  example  of  Honorius.  He  grants  him  the  primacy 
of  honour  ;  but  he  proves  that  he  has  no  jurisdiction  over 
other  patriarchs,  seeing  he  does  not  ordain  them.  He 
observes,  that  the  right  of  appeal  gives  him  no  authority 
over  other  patriarchs,  seeing  the  patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople hath  the  same  right  over  the  patriarchates,  wherein 
he  hath  no  jurisdiction,  according  to  the  ninth  canon  of 
the  fourth  general  council.  He  shews,  that  it  is  not  true, 
that  the  Pope  cannot  be  judged  by  any  person,  or  that  he 
is  of  an  order  more  sublime  than  the  Bishops  ;  that  he  is 
subject  to  councils  and  canons ;  that  he  is  not  properly 
speaking  Bishop  of  the  whole  world  ;  that  the  see  of  Kome 
is  not  the  only  one  that  may  be  called  apostolic ;  that  it 
belongs  not  to  him  alone  to  call  a  general  council ;  and 
that  if  canons  cannot  be  made  without  him,  neither  can 
he  make  any  without  others.  These  treatises  of  Nilus 
are  written,  says  Dupin,  in  a  good  method,  clearness,  and 
full  of  learning.  They  were  at  first  printed  in  Greek  at 
London  without  a  date,  in  Greek  and  Latin  at  Basil  in 

VOL.    111.  2  I 


366  CABASILAS. 

1544,  at  Frankfort  in  1555,  and  with  the  notes  of  Salma- 
sius  at  Haynault  in  1608,  and  in  his  treatise  of  the  pri- 
macy of  the  Pope,  printed  at  Amsterdam  in  1645.  Nilus 
also  puhlished  a  work  on  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
against  the  Latins,  divided  into  nine  and  forty  books,  of 
which  Allatius  makes  mention  in  his  dissertation  of  the 
Nilus. 

His  second  treatise  was  translated  into  English  by 
Thomas  Gressop,  student  in  Oxford,  under  the  title  of 
A  Treatise  containing  a  Declaration  of  the  Pope's  usui-ped 
Primacy,  &c.  8vo.  1560.  This  distiDguished  opponent  of 
Popery  and  firm  advocate  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the 
east  died  in  1350. — Dupin.  Leo  Allatius  in  diatribe  de 
Nilis  et  eonmi  scriptis. 


CABASILAS,    NICHOLAS. 

Nicholas  Cabasilas  was  the  nephew  of  Nilus,  whom 
he  immediately  succeeded  as  Archbishop  of  Thessalonica 
in  1350,  under  John  Cantacuzenus.  He  was,  like  his 
uncle,  a  strong  opponent  of  Popery,  and  wrote  several 
treatises,  in  which  he  shewed  how  entirely  without  founda- 
tion are  the  extravagant  pretensions  of  that  arrogant 
Church  to  supremacy  and  infallibility.  He  also  made  an 
exposition  of  the  liturgy,  in  which  he  treats  of  the  Holy 
Communion,  its  parts  and  its  ceremonies  :  although  he 
did  not  hold  the  Piomish  dogma  of  tran substantiation,  he 
observes  that  the  effect  of  the  celebration  of  the  holy  mys- 
teries, is  the  changing,  (sacramentally)  of  the  elements 
into  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ ;  that  the  end  is 
the  sanctification  of  the  faithful,  the  remission  of  sins, 
and  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  that  the  preparation  and  the 
means  are  prayer,  singing  of  psalms,  and  reading  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  all  that  is  done  before  or  after  the 
consecration  of  the  elements.  He  shews  the  necessity  of 
those  prayers,  and  explains  the  ceremonies  of  the  oblation, 


CABASILAS.  367 

which  precedes  the  receiving ;  why,  but  one  part  of  the 
host  is  given ;  why,  the  sign  of  the  cross  is  made  upon  the 
host  at  the  mention  of  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ ;  of  the 
thanksgiving  after  the  oblation ;  of  the  prayers  of  the 
mass ;  of  presenting  the  sacred  elements  on  the  altar :  of 
the  sanctification  of  these  elements  :  he  attacks  the  Latins 
upon  this  subject,  and  asserts  that  it  is  not  by  the  sole 
virtue  of  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  that  the  consecration 
is  made,  but  by  prayer.  He  says,  that  the  sacrifice  con- 
sists in  this,  that  the  bread,  which  was  not  sacrificed, 
becomes  the  Body  of  Jesus  Christ  sacrificed.  He  explains 
in  what  sense  the  saints  are  prayed  for  in  the  liturgy,  by 
observing  that  those  prayers  are  thanksgivings,  and  that 
we  rather  pray  them  to  help  us  by  their  prayers  ;  but  that 
the  priest  prays  for  himself,  and  for  the  living,  and  for 
the  protection  of  a  good  guardian  angel.  He  adds,  that  at 
the  elevation  of  the  host,  he  says,  Sancta  Sanctis,  to  sig- 
nify that  saints  only  ought  to  partake  of  those  mysteries. 
He  renders  a  reason  of  the  usage  of  the  Greeks,  who 
mingle  warm  water  in  the  chalice  before  the  communion. 
He  affirms,  that  this  ceremony  implies  the  descent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  He  speaks  of  the  communion  and  the . 
prayer  said  after  it.  In  fine,  he  affirms  that  the  sacrifice 
is  oSered  for  the  dead,  as  well  as  for  the  living,  as  to  the 
effect  of  the  intercession,  but  not  as  to  the  participation. 
He  treats  of  the  effects  of  the  communion,  and  chiefly  of 
the  internal  sanctification  of  the  soul,  or  of  the  spiritual 
communion,  by  which  Jesus  Christ  imparts  himself  spirit- 
ually to  such,  as  are  worthy  to  receive  him,  a  communion, 
which  is  more  complete  in  the  saints  after  their  death, 
than  in  the  living.  He  enlarges  upon  the  commemoration 
of  the  saints. 

His  works  are — 1.  This  treatise,  entitled  Compendiosa 
Interpretatio  in  Divinum  Officium,  which  was  published 
at  Paris,  1524,  by  Fronton  du  Due.  A  Latin  version  of 
it,  by  Gentian  Hervet,  was  published  at  Venice  in  1548. 
2.  A  Treatise  on  the  Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  against 
the  Latins  :   this  was  printed  in  Latin,  Venice,    1545 ; 


368  CABASSOLE. 

Antwerp,  1560 ;  and  in  Greek  and  Latin  in  the  Biblio- 
theca  Patrum.  3.  A  Life  of  Jesus  Christ ;  a  Latin  version 
of  this  was  pubhshed  by  Pontanus,  Ingolstadt,  1604,  4to. 
He  also  wrote  a  commentary  on  the  third  book  of  the 
Almagest  of  Ptolemy,  and  is  said  to  have  surpassed  all 
his  contemporaries  in  geometrical  and  astronomical  skill. 
— Diqnn.     Leo  Allatim. 

CABASSOLJE,    PHILIP   DE. 

Phiupde  CABASSOLE,born  at  Cavaillon,  in  Provence,  was 
descended  from  an  illustrious  family  connected  with  the 
house  of  Anjou,  where  he  became,  at  twelve  years  of  age, 
a  canon  of  the  cathedral,  archdeacon  in  1330,  and  Bishop 
in  1334.  He  w^as  also  honoured  with  the  rank  of  chan- 
cellor to  Sancha,  Queen  of  Sicily,  by  her  husband  Robert, 
in  1341,  and  jointly  with  that  princess  was  regent  during 
the  minority  of  Joan  her  grand-  daughter.  In  1345,  after 
the  murder  of  Andrew,  King  of  Hungary,  an  event  which 
deeply  affected  him,  he  returned  to  Avignon.  In  1358 
he  was  sent  as  nuncio  by  the  Pope  to  demand  from  the 
clergy  of  Germany  a  tithe  of  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  of 
that  country,  but  failed  in  the  object  of  his  mission.  In 
1361  he  was  appointed  titular  patriarch  of  Jerusalem, 
and  in  1366  he  had  the  charge  of  the  bishopric  of  Mar- 
seilles; and  at  last,  in  1368,  Pope  Urban  V.  raised 
him  to  the  rank  of  cardinal,  and  vicar-general  spiritual 
and  temporal  in  the  diocese  of  Avignon ;  and  while  the 
Popes  resided  at  Avignon,  Gregory  XI.  made  him  super- 
intendent of  the  papal  territory  in  Italy.  He  wrote 
a  treatise,  De  Nugis  Curialium,  and  some  sermons. 
Dupin  says,  that  in  the  library  of  St.  Victor,  there  are  two 
books  of  the  life  and  miracles  of  St.  Mary  Magdalene 
which  bear  the  name  of  this  Cardinal.  He  is  known  in 
the  history  of  literature  as  the  friend  of  Petrarch,  to  whom 
the  poet  dedicated  his  treatise  on  a  Solitary  Life,  and 
addressed  many  of  his  letters.  He  died  at  Pesugia  in 
1371, 


CAIET.  369 

CABASSUT,    JOHN. 

John  Cabassut  was  born  in  1604  at  Aix  in  Provence. 
At  an  early  age  he  entered  the  congregation,  and  after  his 
ordination  became  celebrated  as  a  priest  of  the  oratory. 
He  was  a  professor  of  the  Canon  Law  at  Avignon,  and 
died  on  the  ^Sth  of  September,  1685,  at  Aix.  He  was 
regarded  by  the  Galilean  Church  as  a  bright  example  of 
humility,  of  self-mortification,  and  of  disinterestedness. 
He  desired  to  publish  several  works,  but  his  time  was  too 
much  occupied  as  a  confessor  and  a  spiritual  adviser  to 
enable  him  to  fulfil  his  intentions.  His  chief  works  are, 
Juris  Canonici  Theoria  et  Praxis,  published  at  Lyons, 
1675,  of  which  there  have  been  many  editions;  and  An 
Account  of  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  Councils  and 
Canons  in  Latin  also,  published  in  1685. — Moreri. 


CAIET,    PETEE  V[CT0K  PALMA. 

Peter  VicTOPt  Palma  Caiet  was  born  in  1525,  at 
Montrichard,  in  Tourraine,  and  was  educated  under  the 
celebrated  Piamus  at  Paris.  He  was  supported  there  by 
the  generosity  of  a  friend  of  the  family,  who  embraced  the 
reformed  religion,  and  in  doing  so  was  imitated  by  Caiet. 
Cai@t  visited  Geneva,  and  afterwards  studied  divinity 
under  the  Protestant  professors  of  Germany.  He  after- 
wards was  brought  under  the  notice  of  Catherine  of 
Bourbon,  sister  of  Henry  IV.,  to  whom  he  was  appointed 
preacher.  He  attended  her  to  Paris,  and  there  he  had 
a  controversy  with  Du  Perron,  during  which  was  mani- 
fested his  inclination  to  return  to  the  Church  of  Ptome. 
The  Calvinists  immediately  acted  as  Calvinists  and  Ultra- 
protestants  too  often  do,  and  made  the  discovery  that  he, 
who  up  to  this  time  had  been  the  subject  of  their  eulogy, 
was  now  a  compound  of  every  thing  bad  in  human  nature. 
They  accused  him  of  having  practised  magical  arts.  The 
Calvinists  must  indeed  have  been  hard  pressed  when  they 
2i2 


370  CAJETAN. 

resorted  to  such  an  accusation,  which  is  indeed  fully 
disproved  by  the  dedication  prefixed  to  his  Histoire 
prodigieuse  et  lamentabile  du  Docteur  Fauste,  grand 
Magicien.  They  also  accused  him  of  having  written  a 
book  in  favour  of  public  brothels :  but  it  is  remarkable 
that  of  this  book  they  never  could  produce  a  copy,  and  we 
may  conclude  therefore,  that,  as  a  copy  was  never  seen  by 
friend  or  foe,  the  book  had  never  any  existence.  He 
abjured  the  principles  of  Calvinism  publicly  before  the 
university  of  Paris,  on  the  9th  of  November,  1595.  A 
residence  was  assigned  him  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Martin 
des  Champs,  from  which  he  removed  in  1601,  to  the 
college  of  Navarre,  at  Paris.  In  this  college  he  was 
appointed  professor  of  Hebrew  and  the  Oriental  languages. 
He  was  also  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne.  He  died  in  1610. 
Henry  IV.  greatly  befriended  him,  and  gave  him  a  small 
estate  in  the  country,  suited  to  the  habits  and  inclinations 
of  one  devoted  to  literary  occupations.  After  his  recanta- 
tion, he  had  a  controversy  with  Du  Moulin,  against  whose 
book,  the  Waters  of  Siloam,  Caiet  published  an  answer, 
entitled  the  Fiery  Furnace,  and  the  Reverberatory  Furnace, 
for  evaporating  the  pretended  Waters  of  Siloam,  and  for 
strengthening  the  Fire  of  Purgatory,  against  the  Heresies, 
Calumnies,  Falsehoods,  and  vain  Cavils  of  the  pretended 
minister  Du  Moulin,  Paris,  1603,  8vo.  He  left  several 
controversial  pieces ;  but  his  most  popular  work  is  his 
Chronologic  septenaire,  1606,  8vo,  from  the  peace  of 
Vervins  in  1598  to  1604,  Paris,  1605,  8vo.  The  reception 
which  this  work  met  with  induced  him  to  add  to  the 
history  of  the  peace  that  of  the  war  that  went  before  it. 
We  have  this  additional  history  in  the  three  vols,  of  his 
Chronologic  novenaire,  1608,  8vo,  from  1589  to  1598. — 
Moreri.     Dwpin. 

CAJETAN. 

Cajetan,  whose    proper   name    was   Thomas   de   Vio, 
named  Cajetan  from  the  place  of  his  nativity,  was  born 


CAJETAN.  871 

at  Cajeta,  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  in  the  year  1460. 
At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  entered  the  order  of  St.  Dominic, 
in  which  his  learning  and  genius  obtained  for  him  a 
distinguished  reputation ;  and  having  taken  a  doctor's 
degree  when  he  was  about  twenty-two  years  of  age,  he 
taught  philosophy  and  divinity  at  Brescia,  Paris,  Pavia, 
and  Rome.  He  went  regularly  through  all  the  honours  of 
his  order  till,  in  1508,  he  was  made  general  of  it;  which 
office  he  exercised  for  ten  years.  In  1517  he  was  made  a 
cardinal  by  Leo  X.  in  consequence  of  the  zeal  with  which 
he  defended  the  papal  pretensions  in  his  work  entitled, 
Of  the  Power  of  the  Pope.  In  1518  he  was  sent  as  a 
legate  into  Germany,  to  move  the  emperor  to  make  war 
against  the  Turks,  and  to  quell  the  commotions  which 
Luther  had  raised  by  his  opposition  to  Leo's  indulgences. 
It  is  indeed  from  the  fact  of  his  sitting  in  judgment  upon 
Martin  Luther  that  Cajetan  obtains  a  place  in  ecclesiastical 
histoiy.  Luther  having  been  summoned  before  an 
ecclesiastical  court  in  Home,  had  exerted  all  his  influence 
to  have  his  cause  tried  in  Germany.  He  succeeded,  and 
was  summoned  to  Augsburg,  where  he  appeared  before 
Cardinal  Cajetan.  The  conduct  of  Cajetan  on  the  occasion 
was  kind  and  courteous,  though  it  does  not  impress  one 
with  the  idea  of  his  being  a  man  of  any  great  powers  of 
mind.  He  sat  as  a  judge,  and  should  not  have  permitted 
Luther  to  draw  him  into  a  discussion.  That  he  failed  in 
discussion  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  for  his  cause,  that  of 
papal  indulgences,  was  incapable  of  defence,  and  he  en- 
countered in  Luther  the  mightiest  intellect  of  the  age. 
Luther  approached  him  as  his  superior  and  judge.  Ac- 
cording to  Roman  etiquette,  he  prostrated  himself  before 
the  cardinal ;  when  the  latter  told  him  to  rise,  he  knelt ; 
and  when  the  command  was  repeated,  he  stood  erect. 
After  a  pause,  Luther  addressed  him,  saying,  "  Most 
worthy  father,  upon  the  summons  of  his  holiness  the  Pope, 
and  at  the  desire  of  my  gracious  Lord,  the  Elector  of 
Saxony,  I  appear  before  you  as  a  humble  and  obedient 
son  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church ;   and  I  acknowledge  it 


3Ta  CAJETAN. 

was  I  who  published  the  propositions  and  thesis  that 
are  the  subject  of  enquiry.  I  am  ready  to  Hsten  with  all 
submission  to  the  charges  brought  against  me;  and  if  I 
am  in  error,  to  be  instructed  in  the  truth."  The  cardinal 
in  a  paternal  spirit  replied,  "  My  dear  son,  you  have  filled 
all  Germany  with  commotion  with  your  indulgences.  I 
hear  that  you  are  a  doctor  well  skilled  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  that  you  have  many  followers.  If,  therefore,  you 
wish  to  be  a  member  of  the  Church,  and  to  have  in  the 
Pope  a  gracious  lord,  listen  to  me."  He  then  required 
him,  1.  To  acknowledge  his  faults,  retract  his  errors, 
propositions,  and  serm.ons  ;  2.  To  abstain  from  propagating 
his  opinions ;  and,  3.  To  avoid  every  thing  that  would 
disturb  the  peace  of  the  Church. 

Luther  seems  to  have  questioned  the  legate's  authority, 
and  surprised  the  assembly  by  demanding  a  sight  of  the 
Pope's  brief  under  which  he  acted,  and  when  this  was 
refused,  he  quietly  said,  "  Deign  to  inform  me  wherein  I 
have^erred."  This  led  to  a  conversation,  not  only  on  the 
doctrine  of  indulgences,  but  on  that  of  the  Sacraments ; 
in  which  Luther  had  so  clearly  the  best  of  the  argument, 
that  the  legate  appears  to  have  lost  his  temper,  and  to 
have  resumed  the  position  from  which  he  had  permitted 
himself  to  be  led,  of  the  magistrate  dealing  with  one  who 
acknowledged  that  he  had  committed  w^hat  the  court 
regarded  as  a  crime,  though  he  was  prepared  to  contend 
that  in  so  regarding  it  the  court  was  in  error.  The 
cardinal  said  :  "  I  am  not  come  here  to  argue  with  you  ; 
retract,  or  prepare  to  endure  the  punishment  you  have 
deserved."  Luther,  perceiving  that  he  could  not  argue 
upon  an  equality,  thought  it  the  most  prudent  plan  to 
answer  the  cardinal  in  w^riting ;  by  which  means,  if  the 
court  decided  against  him,  the  public  would  be  able  to 
form  a  judgment  whether  the  decision  were  a  just  one. 
The  cardinal,  having  offered  him  a  safe  conduct  to  Rome,  if 
he  was  unwilling  to  abide  by  his  judgment,  an  offer  which 
Luther  refused;  he  dismissed  Luther  with  politeness  and 
a  smile  of  compassion. 


CAJETAN.  373 

On  the  morrow,  when  Luther  appeared,  he  read  with  a 
firm  voice  the  following  declaration :  "  I  declare  that  I 
honour  the  holj  Koman  Church,  and  moreover,  that  I  will 
continue  to  do  so.  I  have  sought  after  truth  in  mj  public 
disputations,  and  what  I  have  I  regard  to  this  hour  as 
right,  true,  and  Christian.  Nevertheless,  I  am  but  a  man, 
and  may  be  mistaken.  I  am  therefore  willing  to  be 
instructed  where  I  have  erred.  I  declare  myself  ready  to 
answer  by  word  of  mouth,  or  in  writing,  all  the  objections, 
and  all  the  charges  that  the  illustrious  legate  may  bring 
against  me.  I  declare  myself  willing  to  submit  my  thesis 
to  the  decision  of  the  four  universities  of  Bale,  Fribourg, 
Louvain,  and  Paris,  and  to  retract  what  they  declare  to  be 
erroneous  ;"  and  he  protested  against  the  course  adopted 
by  the  legate  who  called  upon  him  to  retract,  without  first 
convicting  him  of  erroi\ 

This  appeal  to  the  universities  was  not  agreeable  to  the 
cardinal,  who  wished  to  have  the  honour  of  settling  the 
matter  himself — he  told  Luther  that  he  was  ready  to  hear 
him  and  exhort  him  as  a  father,  while  he  evidently  felt 
that  he  had  lowered  himself  by  having  entered  into  a 
discussion.  The  cardinal  insisted  on  a  recantation,  while 
Luther  contended  that  he  had  nothing  to  retract.  The 
discussion  ended  less  amicably  than  on  the  preceding 
day,  Luther  having  carried  his  point,  and  persuaded  the 
cardinal  to  permit  him  to  write  his  answer.  His  written 
answer  he  read  the  next  day,  when  he  was  betrayed  into 
considerable  violence  of  language  and  manner,  while,  on 
that  occasion,  and  afterwards,  the  cardinal  did  all  that  in 
him  lay  by  conciliation  and  gentleness  to  make  him  re- 
tract. The  conference,  as  is  well  known,  led  to  no  results, 
further  than  that  of  exposing  the  awful  sin  of  the  Roman 
Church  on  the  subject  of  indulgences.  The  cardinal  was 
taken  by  surprise  at  the  sudden  departure  of  Luther  from 
Augsburg,  when  he  found  that  his  presence  was  useless, 
and  Cajetan  evidently  suffered  the  pangs  of  disappointed 
vanity.     He  had  expected  to  cajole  the  reformer  into  sub- 


374  CAJETAN. 

mission,  and  to  be  hailed  as  the  pacificator  of  Germany. 
He  failed. 

Luther  and  Cajetan  never  met  again,  but  D'Aubignyin 
his  interesting  Romance  on  the  History  of  the  Reformation 
of  the  1 6th  century,  informs  us  that  the  reformer  made  a 
jDowerful  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  legate  which  was 
never  entirely  effaced.  How  Monsieur  DAubigny  became 
so  well  acquainted  with  the  mind  of  Cardinal  Cajetan,  is 
not  known. 

In  1519  Cajetan  was  made  Bishop  of  Cajeta.  He  was 
also  employed  in  several  important  negotiations,  for  which 
he  was  eminently  fitted  by  his  capacity  for  business,  and 
by  his  command  of  temper.  In  1527  he  was  taken  pri- 
soner at  the  sacking  of  the  city  of  Rome,  but  returned 
thither  in  1530.  Sixtus  Senensis  tells  us,  that  he  was  a 
most  subtle  logician  and  admirable  philosopher,  and  an 
incomparable  divine ;  and  Bossuet  says  that  he  was  a  man 
of  a  fiery  and  impetuous  spirit,  better  skilled  in  dialectics 
than  in  ecclesiastical  antiquities.  He  wrote  commentaries 
upon  Aristotle's  philosophy,  and  upon  Thomas  Aquinas  s 
theology.  He  gave  a  literal  translation  of  all  the  books  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  from  the  originals,  excepting 
Solomon's  Song  and  the  Prophets,  which  he  left  unfinished, 
and  the  Revelation  of  St.  John,  which  he  designedly  omit- 
ted, saying,  that  to  explain  that  part  of  the  New  Testament 
required  an  expositor,  endued  not  only  with  learning,  but 
with  the  spirit  of  prophecy.  Father  Simon  says  of  him, 
that  he  "  was  very  fond  of  translations  of  the  Bible  purely 
literal  ;  being  persuaded  that  the  Scripture  could  not  be 
translated  too  literally,  seeing  that  it  is  the  pure  word  of 
God.  This  cardinal,  in  his  preface  to  the  Psalms,  largely 
explains  the  method  he  observed  in  his  translation  of 
that  book ;  and  he  affirms,  that  although  he  knew  nothing 
of  the  Hebrew,  yet  he  had  translated  part  of  the  Bible 
word  for  word  from  it.  For  this  purpose  he  made  use  of 
two  persons  who  understood  the  language  well — the  one  a 
Jew,  the  other  a  Christian,  whom  he  desired  to  translate 


CAJETAN.  375 

the  Hebrew  words  exactly  according  to  the  letter  and 
grammar,  although  their  translation  might  appear  to  make 
no  sense  at  all."  Cardinal  Pallavacini,  who  looked  upon 
this  as  too  bold,  says,  that  Cajetan,  "  who  has  succeeded 
to  the  admiration  of  the  whole  world  in  his  other  works, 
got  no  reputation  by  what  he  did  upon  the  Bible,  because 
he  followed  the  prejudices  of  those  who  stuck  close  to  the 
Hebrew  Grammar."  But  Simon  is  of  opinion  that  he 
"  may  in  some  measure  be  justified :  for  he  did  not,"  says 
he,  "pretend  to  condemn  the  ancient  Latin  translator,  or 
the  other  translators  of  the  Bible ;  but  would  only  have 
translations  of  the  Bible  to  be  made  from  the  original  as 
literally  as  can  be.  because  there  are  only  these  originals, 
which  can  be  called  the  pure  word  of  God  ;  and  because  in 
translations,  which  are  not  literal,  there  are  always  some 
things  which  do  not -thoroughly  express  the  original." 
These  commentaries  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  were 
severely  censured  by  the  faculty  of  theology  of  Paris,  were 
published  at  Lyons  in  5  vols,  folio,  1639,  with  the  author's 
life,  by  Fonseca,  prefixed.  Cajetan  died  at  Rome,  in  1534. 
—  Sleldan.    Mosheim.   UAuhigny. 


CAJETAX,    CONSTANTINE. 

CoxsTAXTiN'E  Cajetan  was  bom  at  Syracuse,  in  1560. 
He  is  chiefly  celebrated  for  the  almost  insane  devotion 
which  he  evinced  towards  the  Benedictine  order,  of  which 
he  was  a  member,  claiming,  as  Benedictines,  many  who 
were  entirely  unconnected  with  the  order.  He  went  so  far 
as  to  assert  that  John  Gerson,  and  not  Thomas  a  Kempis, 
was  the  author  of  The  Imitation  of  Christ.  This  involved 
him  in  a  long  controversy  with  Piosweyde.  Baronius 
made  gi'eat  use  in  his  annals  of  materials  supplied  by 
Cajetan.  He  was  secretary  to  Paul  Y.,  and  was  appointed 
librarian  at  the  Vatican  by  Clement  VIII.  He  died  in 
1650. — Bujnn.    Moreri. 


376  CALAMY. 

CALAMY,    EDMUND. 

Edmund  Calamy  was  bora  in  1600,  and  was  educated 
at  Pembroke  Hall,  Cambridge.  He  was  afterwards  chap- 
lain to  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  Dr.  Feltham,  who  presented 
him  to  the  vicarage  of  St.  Mary's  in  Swaffham-Prior. 
At  the  death  of  the  Bishop  he  became  one  of  the  lecturers 
of  St.  Edmund  s  Bury,  in  Suffolk.  It  is  stated  by  some 
writers  that  during  the  ten  years  of  his  being  lecturer  at 
this  place  he  was  mindful  of  his  ecclesiastical  vows,  and 
dutifully  conformed  to  the  Church.  But  that  he  did  thus 
observe  his  vows,  and  conform,  is  denied  by  others,  and 
indeed,  without  apparent  compunction  of  conscience  by 
himself.  His  diocesan.  Bishop  Wren,  like  the  present 
learned  Bishop  of  London,  directed  his  clergy  to  observe 
the  orders  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church  ;  and  the  writer 
of  a  Tract  called  "  Sober  Sadness,"  ssljs,  "that  Mr.  Calamy 
complied  with  Bishop  Wren,  his  diocesan,  preached  in  his 
surplice  and  hood,  read  prayers  at  the  rails,  bowed  at  the 
name  of  Jesus,  and  undertook  to  satisfy  and  reduce  such 
as  scrupled  those  ceremonies."  The  same  assertion  was 
made  by  Mr.  Henry  Beeston  in  1646,  to  whose  work 
Mr.  Calamy  replied :  and  in  his  reply  he  affirms,  '*  that 
during  the  time  he  was  at  St.  Edmund's  Bury,  he  never 
bowed  to,  or  towards  the  altar,  to,  or  towards  the  east, 
never  read  that  wicked  book  of  sports  upon  the  Lord's  day, 
never  read  prayers  at  the  high  altar,  at  the  upper  end  of 
the  Church,  where  people  could  not  hear."  It  seems  hard 
not  to  believe  a  man  when  he  publishes  his  own  disgrace, 
and  glories  in  it.  When  Non-conformity  became  popular 
there  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  a  Non-conformist,  and  be- 
came a  violent  assailant  of  the  Church  ;  he  was  one  of  the 
writers  of  a  "  Humble  Remonstrance,  &c.,  published  by 
Smectymnuus,"  which,  with  the  vanity  of  an  author,  he 
described  as  giving  the  first  deadly  blow  at  episcopacy. 
But  deadly  as  the  blow  was,  episcopacy  still  survives,  and 
among  the  modern  Puritans  is  even  popular.  The  word 
Smectymnuus  is    composed  of  the   initial  letters  of  its 


CALAMY.  S7T 

authors    names,    Stephen    Marshall,   Edmund    Calamy, 
Thomas  Young,  Matthew  Newcomen,  and  William  Spur- 
stow.     It  may  be  doubted  whether  any  thing  which  has  of 
late  years  issued  from  the  press  of  the   religious  world, 
has  surpassed,  or  even  equalled  this  work  in  fierceness  of 
spirit,   or  severity   of  language.     It   concludes    with    an 
appendix,  in  which  is  contained  an  historical  narration  of 
those  bitter  fruits,  pride,  rebellion,  treason,  unthankful- 
ness,  &c.,  which  have  issued  from  episcopacy,  while  it  hath 
stood  under  the  continual  influences   of  sovereign  good- 
ness.'    The  whole  ends  thus,  '  The  inhuman  butcheiies, 
blood-sheddings,  and  cmelties  of  Gardiner,  Bonner,  and 
the  rest  of  the  Bishops  in  Queen  Mary  s  days,  are  so  fresh 
in  every  man's  memory,  as  that  we  conceive  it  a  thing 
altogether  unnecessary  to  make  mention  of  them.     Only 
we  fear  lest  the  guilt  of  the  blood  then  shed,  should  yet 
remain  to  be  required'at  the  hands  of  this  nation,  because 
it  hath  not  publicly  endeavoured  to  appease  the  wrath  of 
God,  by  a  solemn  and  general  humiliation  for  it.     What 
the  practices  of  the  prelates  have  been  ever  since,  from 
the  beginning  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  this  very  day,  would 
fill  a  volume  like  Ezekiels  roll,  with  lamentation,  mourn- 
ing, and  woe  to  record.     For  it  hath  been   their  great 
design  to  hinder  all  further  reformation :  to  bring  in  doc- 
trines of  Popery,  Arminianism,  and  Libertinism,  to  main- 
tain, propagate,   and  much  increase  the  burden  of  human 
ceremonies,   to  keep  out  and  beat  down  the  preaching  of 
the  word,  to  silence  the  faithful  preachers  of  it,  to  oppose 
and  persecute  the  most  zealous  professoi-s,  and  to  turn  all 
religion  into  a  pompous  outside :  and  to  tread  down  the 
power  of  godliness.     Insomuch,   as  it  is  come  to  an  ordi- 
nary proverb,  that  when  any  thing  is  spoiled,   we  used  to 
say.  The  Bishop's  foot  is  in  it.     x\nd  in  all  this,  and 
much  more  which  might  be  said,  fulfilling  Bishop  Bonner's 
prophecy,    who,    when  he  saw,    that  in    King  Edward's 
Reformation,  there  was  a  reservation  of  ceremonies  and 
hierarchy,  is  credibly  reported  to  have  used  these  words  : 

YOL.  III.  2  K 


378  CALAMY. 

*  Since  they  have  begun  to  taste  our  broth,  it  will  not  he 
long  ere  thej  taste  our  beef.'" 

Archdeacon  Echard  says,  that  he  afterwards  became 
"  an  incendiary,  a  promoter  of  rebellion,  and  of  the  bring- 
ing in  of  the  Scots  ;"  and  by  the  sermons  of  Calamy,  the 
assertions  of  the  archdeacon  are  fully  proved. 

His  views  became  more  moderate  when  the  Indepen- 
dents supplanted  the  Presbyterians ;  and  he  has  the 
honour  of  being  one  of  the  Presbyterians  who  remonstrat- 
ed against  the  murder  of  King  Charles  the  Martyr.  He 
seems  to  have  come  to  the  opinion,  that  a  Churchman 
would  make  a  better  King  than  an  Independent.  The 
following  story,  which  Harry  Neville,  who  was  one  of  the 
council  of  state,  asserted  of  his  own  knowledge,  is  a  full 
proof  of  this,  and  at  the  same  time  a  very  curious  passage 
in  itself.  "  Cromwell  having  a  design  to  set  up  himself, 
and  bring  the  crown  upon  his  own  head,  sent  for  some  of 
the  chief  city  divines,  as  if  he  made  it  a  matter  of  con- 
science to  be  determined  by  their  advice.  Among  these 
was  the  leading  Mr.  Calamy,  who  very  boldly  opposed  the 
project  of  Cromwell's  single  government,  and  offered  to 
prove  it  both  unlawful  and  impracticable.  Cromwell  an- 
swered readily  upon  the  first  head  of  unlawful,  and 
appealed  to  the  safety  of  the  nation  being  the  supreme 
law :  but,  says  he,  pray  Mr.  Calamy,  why  impracticable  ? 
He  replied  ;  oh  it  is  against  the  voice  of  the  nation,  there 
will  be  nine  in  ten  against  you.  Very  well,  says  Crom- 
well ;  but  what  if  I  should  disarm  the  nine,  and  put  the 
sword  in  the  tenth  man's  hand,  would  not  that  do  the 
business." 

On  the  Restoration  he  was  offered  a  bishopric, — an  un- 
principled proceeding — by  which  Charles,  in  the  true  spirit 
of  simony,  sought  to  bring  over  the  Presbyterians.  Much 
to  his  credit.  Dr.  Calamy  refused  the  bribe,  and  continued 
a  Non-conformist,  though  attending  his  parish  church  as 
a  layman.  His  character  in  his  old  age  seems  to  have 
softened.  He  died  in  October,  1666,  a  short  time  after 
the  fire  of  London. 


CALAMY.  379 

Besides  the  pieces  already  mentioned,  Calamy  published 
several  single  sermons,  preached  on  different  occasions, 
and  five  sermons,  entitled,  The  Godly  Man's  Ark,  or  a 
City  of  Refuge  in  the  Day  of  his  Distress,  the  eighth 
edition  of  which  was  printed  at  London,  1(583,  in  12mo. 
He  had  a  share  in  drawing  up  the  Vindication  of  the 
Presbyterian  Goveinment  and  Ministry,  London,  1 650  ; 
and  the  Jus  Divinum  Ministerii  Evangelici  Anglicani, 
printed  in  1654. — Edmund  Calamy  s  Autobiography  and 
Lives.     Wood. 


CALAMY,    BENJAiriN. 

BENJAMfN  Calamy,  second  son  of  the  preceding,  was 
educated  at  St.  Pauls  School,  from  whence  he  removed  to 
Catherine  Hall,  Cambridge,  where  he  took  his  degrees  in 
arts,  and  obtained  a  fellowship.  In  1677  he  was  chosen 
minister  of  St.  Mary,  Aldermanbury,  and  soon  after  was 
appointed  chaplain  to  the  King.  In  1680  he  took  his 
degree  of  D.D.  In  1683  he  preached  a  sermon,  which  he 
afterwards  published  under  the  title  of  a  Discourse  about 
a  Scrupulous  Conscience.  This  sermon  he  preached  a 
second  time  at  Bow  Church,  and  this  excited  a  Non- 
conformist, Thomas  de  Laune,  who  had  been  formerly  a 
schoolmaster,  to  write  against  it ;  for  which  he  was  tyran- 
nically imprisoned,  a  circumstance  which  greatly  affected 
Dr.  Calamy,  who  exerted  himself  in  behalf  of  De  Laune. 
In  1683  Calamy  was  admitted  to  the  vicarage  of  St.  Law- 
rence Jewry,  with  St.  Mary  Magdalen,  Milk-street,  an- 
nexed, to  which  he  was  collated  by  the  dean  and  chapter 
of  St.  Paul's,  and  in  1685  he  was  made  a  prebendary  of 
that  cathedral.  He  died  in  1686. — Ed.  Calamy's  Auto- 
biography.    SJierlock's  Funeral  Sermon. 

CALAMY,    EDMUND. 

Edmund  Calamy,  grandson  of  Edmund  before  men- 
tioned, was  born  in  1671.    Having  completed  his  education 


380  CALVIN. 

at  different  schools  in  England,  he  was  sent  to  Utrecht ; 
and  in  1694  was  ordained  at  London,  in  the  Presbyterian 
way.  After  officiating  to  different  congregations,  he  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  x\lsop  in  Westminster.  In  1702  he  published 
an  abridgment  of  Baxter's  Life  and  Times,  with  an  ac- 
count of  the  ejected  ministers  ;  a  subsequent  edition  of 
which  was  enlarged  to  four  volumes.  This  work  occa- 
sioned a  controversy  between  the  author  and  Mr.  after- 
wards Bishop  Hoadley.  In  1709  Mr.  Calamy  made  a 
tour  in  Scotland,  where  the  degree  of  D.D.  was  conferred 
on  him  by  three  Presbyterian  universities.  He  died  in 
1732.  Besides  the  above,  he  published  two  volumes  of 
sermons  and  some  tracts.  He  also  left  a  large  manuscript 
by  him,  entitled  "  An  historical  Account  of  my  own  Life 
and  Times,"  which  was  published  in  1829  by  Mr.  Butt, 
but  is  of  little  value. — Autobiography. 


CALVIN,  JOHN. 

This  celebrated  founder  of  the  religion  which  goes  by 
his  name  was  bom  on  the  1 0th  of  July,  1509,  at  Noyon, 
in  Picardy.  His  proper  name  was  Chauvin,  which  he 
latinized  into  Calvinus,  and  hence  the  name  of  Calvin. 
His  father,  Gerard  Chauvin,  was  a  cooper  by  trade,  a  wise 
and  prudent  man,  who  secured  for  his  son  the  advantages 
of  a  good  education  ;  which  he  was  able  to  obtain  for  him 
in  his  native  town,  under  Claude  D'Haugest.  The  youth 
attracted  the  notice  of  a  wealthy  family  of  the  first  dis- 
tinction in  Picardy,  the  members  of  which  very  charitably 
undertook  the  completion  of  his  education,  and  sent  him 
to  the  College  de  la  Marche,  in  Paris,  where  Calvin  became 
the  pupil  of  Maturinus  Corderius.  He  was  afterwards 
removed  to  the  college  of  Montaigne,  where  he  was  under 
the  tuition  of  a  Spanish  professor.  The  powers  of  his 
mind  were  soon  displayed  by  the  ease  with  which  he 
acquired  languages,  and  by  his  skill  in  dialectics  and 
philosophy.     He  had  proof  in  early  life  of  the  need  there 


CALVIN.  381 

was  of  a  reformation  of  the  Church,  in  what  occurred  to 
himself,  for  in  his  twelfth  year  he  was  presented  to  the 
chapel  of  Xotre  Dame  de  la  Gesine  in  the  cathedral  of 
Noyon,  and  six  years  afterwards  to  the  cure  of  Marteville, 
which  he  exchanged  in  1529  for  the  cure  of  Pont  I'Eveque. 
But  these  preferments  he  resigned  in  his  twenty-fifth  year, 
having  imbibed  the  principles,  if  not  of  the  Reformation, 
at  least  of  hostility  to  the  Church,  under  Peter  Robert 
Olivetan,  a  fellow  student  and  townsman,  whom  he  met 
at  Paris.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  was  prepared  at  first 
to  seek  ofiice  among  the  reformers,  but  he  was  too  high 
minded  to  receive  the  emoluments  of  the  Church,  when 
he  was  already  actuated  by  feelings  of  hostility  to  it ;  he 
seems,  therefore,  to  have  turned  his  mind  to  the  legal 
profession,  and  he  studied  jurisprudence  under  Peter  de 
I'Etoile  at  Orleans,  and  afterwards  under  Andrew  Alciat 
at  Bourges ;  and  hei'e  he  also  placed  himself  under 
Melchior  Wolmar,  the  reformer,  in  order  that  he  might 
study  the  Greek  language.  He  now  returned  to  his 
study  of  theology.  And  such  was  the  energy  of  his  mind, 
that  to  pursue  his  studies,  he  robbed  himself  of  food  and 
rest,  going  to  bed  late  and  hastening  to  rise  up  early ;  so 
that  he  laid  the  foundation,  not  only  of  that  learning  by 
which  he  was  distinguished,  but  of  the  dyspepsia,  which 
afflicted  him  throughout  his  life.  He  was  not  aware  that 
excess  of  study,  like  every  other  excess,  is  wrong.  It  is 
certain  that  his  opposition  to  the  Church  very  soon  became 
notorious,  though  the  line  he  was  prepared  to  adopt  was 
not  evident.  On  one  occasion  Erasmus  said  of  him,  "I  see 
in  that  young  man  the  seeds  of  a  dangerous  pest,  which 
will  one  day  throw  great  disorder  into  the  Church." 

His  father  dying  while  he  was  at  Bourges,  he  was 
obliged  to  abandon  the  study  of  the  law,  and  to  return 
to  Noyon.  He  soon  after,  however,  returned  to  Paris, 
where  he  published  his  commentary  on  the  two  books 
of  Seneca  de  dementia,  and  the  publication  is  mem- 
orable, as  herein  he  first  wrote  his  name  Calvinus. 
2k  2 


382  CALVIN. 

Although  only  twenty-four  years  of  age,  he  became 
known  and  esteemed  by  all  who  in  that  city  had 
secretly  embraced  the  principles  of  the  Reformation  ;  and 
he  soon  had  an  opportunity  of  displaying  his  zeal. 
Michael  Cope,  rector  of  the  university  of  Paris,  was 
persuaded  by  Calvin  to  denounce  in  strong  language,  on 
a  public  occasion,  some  of  the  chief  errors  of  the  Gallican 
Church.  In  the  composition  of  the  discourse  Calvin  had  a 
considerable  share,  and  both  Cope  and  Calvin  thought  it 
expedient  to  fly  ;  the  latter,  after  wandering  about  from 
place  to  place,  at  last  found  an  asylum  at  Saintonge, 
where,  at  the  request  of  Louis  du  Tillet,  he  composed 
some  sermons  and  exhortations,  intended  to  awaken  a 
spirit  of  enquiry,  and  to  induce  the  people  to  search  the 
Scriptures  for  themselves.  Here  also  he  applied  himself 
assiduously  to  his  studies,  and  collected  the  materials  for 
his  great  work.  The  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion. 
Calvin  was  introduced  to  the  court  of  Margaret,  Queen  of 
Navarre,  sister  to  Francis  I.  by  LeFevre  d'Estaple,  a  zealous 
reformer ;  and  at  Nerac  he  had  further  opportunities  for 
study,  and  for  the  cultivation  of  the  society  of  men,  after- 
wards useful  to  him  in  propagating  the  principles  of  his 
religion.  He  did  not,  however,  remain  long  at  Nerac,  as 
he  returned  to  Paris  in  1534,  where  he  published  a  work 
entitled  Psychopannychia,  to  refute  the  error  of  those 
who  hold  that  the  soul  remains  in  a  state  of  sleep  in  the 
interval  between  death  and  the  resurrection.  The  indis- 
cretions of  the  reforming  party  at  Paris  having  excited  the 
indignation  of  Francis  I.  Calvin  again  thought  it  prudent 
to  leave  France,  and  withdrawing  to  Basle,  he  there 
completed  his  Institutes,  which  he  published  at  the  close 
of  the  year  1535.  This  celebrated  work  received  from 
time  to  time  numerous  important  additions,  and  did  not 
cease  to  engage  the  author's  attention  to  the  end  of  his 
life.  The  most  complete  of  the  numerous  editions  pub- 
lished in  the  author's  life-time,  is  that  of  Robert  Stephens, 
Geneva,  1559.    In  this  work  are  displayed  those  wonderful 


CALVIN.  383 

powers  of  mind  which  enabled  Calvin  to  rule  as  the 
Protestant  pope  in  his  life-time,  and  to  be  to  his  disciples, 
since  his  death,  as  an  inspired  apostle.  Trusting,  how- 
ever, to  his  private  judgment,  and  acting  with  the 
presumption  which  was  natural  to  him,  he  has  fallen  into 
some  fearful  heresies.  In  the  daring  of  his  presumption 
he  stated  a  heresy  with  reference  to  the  nature  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Himself ;  the  heresy  of  .which  he  was 
thus  the  author  is  called  by  Possevin  the  heresy  of  the 
Autotheans,  aud  he  speaks  of  Calvin  as  a  Tritheist. 
Calvin  was  severely  rebuked  by  Bellarmin  and  Petavius 
among  the  Piomanists,  and  by  Episcopius  and  CurcellcBus 
among  the  Protestants.  Our  own  Bishop  Bull,  ha\dng 
shewn  that  the  heresy  is  repugnant  to  the  Nicene  faith, 
exclaims :  "  But  why  do  I  endeavour  to  bind  by  the 
authority  of  the  council  of  Nice  those  who  regard  the 
authority  of  the  council  as  a  thing  of  nought?  For  their 
ring-leader  has  not  feared  to  call  the  fathers  of  the  council 
of  Nice  fanatics,  and  the  Nicene  formula,  '  God  of  God, 
Light  of  Light,  very  God  of  very  God,'  a  harsh  expression, 
mere  battology,  fitted  rather  for  a  song  than  a  confession 
of  faith.  Horresco  hsec  referens,"  continues  Bishop  Bull, 
"  I  am  horrified  at  saying  these  things ;  and  therefore  I 
most  seriously  exhort  the  pious  and  studious  youth,  that 
they  take  heed  of  that  spirit  from  which  such  effects  as 
these  have  proceeded.  We  owe  much  indeed  to  that  man 
(Calvin)  for  his  good  work  in  purging  the  Church  of 
Christ  from  popish  superstitions;  but  far  be  it  from  us 
that  we  should  receive  him  for  our  master,  or  that  we 
should  swear  by  his  words ;  or  lastly,  that  we  should  be 
afraid  freely  to  remark,  as  there  shall  be  cause  for  so 
doing,  his  manifest  errors,  and  his  new  and  singular 
determinations  against  the  Catholic  consent  of  antiquity. 
Whosoever  he  is,  or  howsoever  great  in  other  respects,  who 
shall  despise  the  authority  of  the  ancient  Catholic  Church, 
so  far  he  can  have  no  credit  or  authority  with  us.  Un- 
doubtedly the  song  which  the  great  man  ridiculed  was 
sung  by  a  sacred  chorus  of  about  three  hundred  bishops, 


384  CALVIN. 

with  presbyters  and  deacons  innumerable,  assembled  in 
the  first  and  most  august  of  (Ecumenical  Councils.  The 
same  was  sung  with  w'onderful  harmony  by  the  ante-Nicene 
Catholic  doctors,  as  we  have  elsewhere  proved.  In  a 
word,  that  the  Son  of  God  is  God  of  God,  is  the  voice 
and  song  of  the  whole  Catholic  Church  of  Christ,  conso- 
nant to  the  word  of  God  in  His  holy  oracles,  and  never 
opposed  by  any  but  at  his  peril." — Defensio  Fidei  NicmKB 
iv.  1—8. 

It  is  worthy  of  observation,  how  strong  was  the  hold 
which  an  heretical  puritanism  had  upon  our  Church  at 
that  period,  when  Bishop  Bull,  on  censuring  a  heretic, 
was  obliged  to  guard  his  language  with  so  much  caution 
as  is  exhibited  in  the  paragraph  from  his  immortal  w^ork 
just  quoted. 

Although  Calvin  s  views  of  the  sacraments  would  be 
repudiated  as  too  high  by  modern  Puritans,  he  was  very 
heretical  in  many  of  his  statements  with  respect  to  them. 
Some  of  his  errors  with  reference  to  the  Eucharist  are 
pointed  out  by  Waterland. — Works,  vii.  p.  183.  To  this 
subject  we  shall  have  presently  to  revert. 

Upon  Luther's  notion  of  justification  Calvin  refined, 
grafting  upon  it  three  important  articles.  In  the  first 
place,  what  Luther  predicated  of  justification,  Calvin 
extended  to  eternal  salvation ;  that  is  to  say,  whereas 
Luther  required  the  faithful  to  believe  with  infallible 
certainty  that  they  are  justified,  Calvin,  besides  the 
certainty  of  justification,  required  the  like  of  their  eternal 
predestination ;  in  so  much,  that  a  perfect  Calvinist  can 
no  more  doubt  of  his  being  saved,  than  a  perfect  Lutheran 
of  his  being  justified.  If  a  Calvinist  were  to  make  his  par- 
ticular confession  of  faith,  he  would  put  in  this  article,  "  I 
am  assured  of  my  salvation."  Thence  follows,  as  Bossuet 
observes,  a  second  dogma,  that,  whereas  Luther  held 
that  a  justified  believer  might  fall  from  grace,  Calvin, 
on  the  contrary,  maintains  that  grace  once  received 
can  never  be  lost.  So  that  whoever  is  justified  and 
receives  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  justified  and  receives  the  Holy 


CALVIN.  885 

Ghost  for  ever.  This  dogma  is  called  the  inamissibility 
of  righteousness.  There  was  also  a  third  dogma,  which 
Calvin  established  as  a  corollary  from  imputed  righteous- 
ness, namely,  that  baptism  could  not  be  necessary  to 
salvation,  as  the  Lutherans  maintained.  It  is  clear  that 
they  who  hold  such  doctrines  ought  also  to  say  that 
infants  enjoy  grace  independently  of  baptism,  and  from 
admitting  this  inference  Cahin  did  not  shrink  :  one  of  the 
novelties  which  he  broached  was  this,  that  the  children  of 
the  faithful  were  born  in  the  covenant,  that  is,  in  that 
sanctity,  which  baptism  did  no  more  than  seal  in  them  ; 
an  unheard  of  doctrine  in  the  Church,  but  necessary  for 
Calvin,  in  order  to  support  his  principles.  The  incon- 
sistency of  Calvin  and  his  followers  with  respect  to  these 
dogmata,  is  skilfully  shewn  by  Bossuet.  Although  they 
say  on  the  one  hand  that  the  children  of  the  faithful  are 
born  in  the  covenant,"  and  the  seal  of  grace,  which  is 
baptism,  is  only  due  to  them  because  the  thing  itself, 
namely,  grace  and  regeneration,  is  acquired  to  them  by 
their  being  happily  born  of  faithful  parents  .  it  appears, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  they  will  not  allow  that  the 
children  of  the  faithful  are  always  regenerated,  when  they 
receive  baptism,  and  this  for  two  reasons ;  the  first,  be- 
cause, according  to  their  maxims,  the  seal  of  baptism  has 
not  its  effect  except  with  regard  to  the  predestinated;  the 
second,  because  the  seal  of  baptism  works  not  always  a 
present  effect,  even  with  regard  to  the  predestinated,  since 
such  a  person  may  have  been  baptized  in  his  infancy  who 
was  not  regenerated  till  old  age. 

In  treating  of  predestination,  he  confesses,  that  this  is 
a  matter  which  appears  to  be  very  obscure  and  embar- 
rassed ;  notwithstanding,  he  determines  expressly,  that 
those  whom  God  has  predestinated  by  his  mere  mercy, 
are  infallibly  saved ;  and  that  those  whom  he  has  destined 
to  damnation,  are  infallibly  excluded  from  life  eternal ; 
that  this  depends  on  the  decree  of  God,  by  which  he  has 
resolved  to  save  the  one,  and  damn  the  other :  that  God 
did  not  only  foresee,  but  ordain  the  sin  of  Adam,  and  the 


386  CALVIN. 

sins  of  all  other  men  ;  and  that  the  will  of  God  imposes  a 
necessity  of  event,  because  nothing  can  be  done  but  that 
which  God  would  have  effected.  He  denies  that  men 
co-operate  with  God  in  their  salvation. 

Soon  after  the  publication  of  his  Institutes,  Calvin  went 
to  Italy,  where  he  was  received  by  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara, 
daughter  of  Louis  XII.  and  wife  of  Hercules  D'Este, 
towards  whom,  as  an  encourager  of  learned  men,  the 
Reformers  turned  their  attention,  because  her  sentiments 
were  not  very  remote  from  theirs.  He  did  not,  however, 
remain  long  at  Ferrara,  but  proceeded  to  visit  in  succes- 
sion several  other  towns  in  Italy,  in  which  he  took  steps 
to  propagate  his  doctrines. 

In  1536  Calvin  returned  to  Paris  with  Anthony,  his 
only  surviving  brother,  and  ha\dng  settled  his  private 
affairs,  he  intended  to  proceed  either  to  Strasburg  or  to 
Basle.  But  the  direct  road  being  closed  up  on  account 
of  the  war,  he  was  compelled  to  go  through  Geneva. 
He  arrived  at  Geneva,  in  August,  1536.  He  found  this 
city  in  a  state  of  great  confusion ;  the  civil  government 
was  democratic,  and  in  those  days  tumultuous;  the  Church 
had  been  entirely  overthrown,  the  Bishop  and  clergy 
having  been  driven  away  :  only  such  laws  existed  as  the 
individual  influence  of  the  pastors  was  able  to  impose 
upon  their  several  flocks.  It  was  a  tempting  field  for  a 
man  so  ambitious  as  Calvin.  The  reformed  doctrines 
had  been  introduced  into  Geneva  in  some  shape,  through 
the  instrumentality  of  Farel  and  Viret,  and  by  Farel  the 
not  unwilling  Calvin  was  persuaded  to  take  up  his  resi- 
dence with  them.  The  consequences  of  the  Reformation 
in  Geneva  had  hitherto  been  disastrous.  The  most  atro- 
cious crimes  were  committed  by  the  upholders  of  the 
reformed  doctrines,  and  deadly  feuds  existed  between  the 
principal  families.  Being  chosen  by  the  consistory  and 
magistrates  to  be  one  of  their  ministers  and  professor  of 
Divinity,  Calvin's  acute  mind  perceived  that  although  he 
denied  the  Church  to  be  a  divine  institution,  and  taught 
people  to  seek  direct  communion  with  God  without  the 


CALVIN.  387 

intervention  of  the  Church,  still  it  was  necessary  to  bind 
men  in  a  community,  and  to  have  laws  for  its  preservation 
as  such.     And  therefore,  in   1637,  he  composed  a  formula 
of  Christian  doctrine,  to  which  he  added  a  short  catechism, 
and  made  the  people  to  abjure  Popery,   and  to  swear  to 
the  summary  of  doctrine  which  he  had  drawn  up.     He 
established  in  short  the  Presbyterian  religion,  of  which 
he  is  the  author.     So  bold  a  step  could  only  have  been 
undertaken    by  a   powerful  mind,  confident    in  its  own 
resources,   a  confidence  which  in  Calvin's  case  led  him 
into  the  deepest  errors.     But  when  he  went  still  further, 
and  assuming  the  power  of  the  Popes  in  the  middle  ages, 
determined  to  place   Geneva  under  an  interdict,  by  refus- 
ing to  administer  the  Lord's  Supper,  unless  the  people 
renounced  the  factious  spirit  and  the  gross  immoralities 
which  prevailed  among  these  reformers,  he  found  that  he 
had  presumed  too  much  on  the  patience  of  those  who, 
having  appointed  him  to  his  office,   could  not  understand 
how  he  should  possess  any  authority  over  them,  except 
what  they  themselves  conferred.     He  was  therefore  ban- 
ished from   Geneva  in   1538,   and  retired  to   Strasburg, 
where,  through  the  influence  of  Bucer  and  others,  he  was 
appointed  professor  of  theology,   and  established  a  French 
congregation  composed  of  numerous  refugees.     But  he 
felt  that  his  absence  from  Geneva  was  only  to  be  tempo- 
rary ;  he  perceived  that  the  field  provided  for  his  genius 
was  there ;  and  in  order  to  keep  his  name  and  remembrance 
before  the  people,   he   addressed  to  them  several  letters 
from  Strasburg,  wherein  he  exhorted  them  to  repentance, 
to  peace,  to  charity,  and  the  love  of  God.    He  was  especially 
aroused  when  an  attempt  was  made  to  rob  him  perma- 
nently of  what  he  intended  to  make  his  own  dominion. 
James  Sadolet,  Bishop  of  Carpentras,   near  Avignon,  see- 
ing the  miserable  state  of  irreligion  and  anarchy  in  which 
Geneva  was  involved,   and  attributing  these  evils  to  the 
rejection  on  the  part  of  the   Genevese,  of  the   Church, 
(which  Sadolet  so  much  wished  to  see  reformed,   but  not 
destroyed,  that  he  was  regarded  in  his  latter  years  with 


388  CALVIN. 

suspicion  at  Rome,)  addressed  a  Latin  letter  in  1539  to 
the  senate  and  people  of  Geneva,  in  which  he  affectionately 
urged  upon  them  the  duty  of  returning  to  the  Church. 
To  the  piety  and  excellence  of  Sadolet  all  parties  bear 
witness.,  and  he  had  certainly  as  much  right  to  address 
the  Genevese  as  Calvin.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Protes- 
tant historians  should  be  so  blinded  by  their  prejudices, 
as  to  attribute  motives,  calling  the  attempt  of  Sadolet  to 
benefit  the  Genevese  "  insidious,"  while  in  Calvin's  pro- 
ceedings they  can  perceive  nothing  but  pure  intentions 
and  an  honest  purpose.  It  is  admitted  that  if  Sadolet  had 
written  in  French,  instead  of  Latin,  he  would  probably 
have  caused  a  strong  sensation  among  the  people,  so  dis- 
contented were  they  with  the  existing  state  of  things.  But 
Calvin  came  to  the  rescue,  he  wrote  two  letters  in  confuta- 
tion of  the  address  of  Sadolet,  who,  though  a  pious  and 
learned  man,  did  not  possess  powers  sufficient  to  compete 
with  such  a  character  as  Calvin,  and  the  Genevese  re- 
mained determined  in  their  hostility  to  the  Church. 

About  two  years  afterwards  he  accompanied  Bucer  to 
the  Diet  at  Worms  and  Ratisbon,  where  he  had  a  confer- 
ence with  Philip  Melancthon.  While  he  was  at  Strasburg 
p^e  f wrote,  in  1540,  his  De  Caera  Domini  Libellus.  The 
Lutherans  and  Zuinglians  had  disputed  for  fifteen  years 
on  the  article  of  the  Real  Presence,  and  Calvin,  with  the 
presumption  peculiar  to  youth,  constituted  himself  umpire, 
and  decided  that  the  two  parties  did  not  understand  each 
other,  and  that  the  leaders  on  both  sides  were  in  the  wrong. 
The  doctrine  of  Calvin,  says  Dupin,  concerning  the  Sacra- 
ment, is  not  at  the  bottom  different  from  that  of  the 
Zuinglians,  although  he  useth  very  positive  words  to  ex* 
press  the  presence  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
for  he  affirms,  that  in  the  Eucharist  we  are  not  only  par- 
takers of  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  also  of  His  flesh 
which  is  distributed  to  us ;  that  He  nourisheth  us  there 
with  the  proper  substance  of  His  body  and  blood  ;  that  it 
is  not  to  be  doubted,  but  that  we  receive  His  very  body,  and 
that  this  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  our 


CALVIN.  389 

Lord  is  given  under  the  symbols  of  bread  and  wine  to  all 
that  celebrate  His  Supper,  according  to  its  lawful  institu- 
tion, so  that  we  truly  receive  what  is  signified  by  the 
symbols ;  that  the  body  which  is  received  is  not  sym- 
bolical body,  as  it  was  not  a  symbolical  spirit  which  ap- 
peared in  the  baptism  of  our  Lord,  but  the  Holy  Spirit 
itself  was  really  and  substantially  under  the  symbol  or 
outward  form  of  a  dove  ;  that  Jesus  Christ  is  united  to  us 
in  this  Sacrament,  not  by  fancy  and  imagination,  nor  by 
thought,  or  a  bare  apprehension  of  the  mind,  but  really 
and  indeed  by  a  true  and  substantial  union;  that  the 
manner  of  our  receiving  Christ's  Body,  is  very  different 
from  the  other  manner  of  receiving  Him  by  faith ;  that 
this  mystery  is  incomprehensible,  and  contains  in  it  a 
miracle,  which  exceeds  the  bounds  and  the  capacity  of  the 
mind  of  man,  and  which  is  the  work  of  Almighty  God, 
much  above  the  course,  of  nature ;  that  there  is  a  divine 
and  supernatural  change  in  it,  which  surpasses  our  sensi- 
ble knowledge :  that  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
are  truly  given  to  the  unworthy,  as  well  as  to  the  faithful 
and  elect,  though  they  are  not  received  with  benefit,  unless 
it  be  by  the  faithful  only. 

During  his  residence  at  Strasburg,  Calvin  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Castalio,  and  procured  for  him  the  situa- 
tion of  a  regent  at  Geneva ;  and  it  was  during  his  stay  in 
this  city  that,  at  the  recommendation  of  Bucer,  he  married 
Idoletta,  the  widow  of  John  Storder,  an  Anabaptist  minis- 
ter, whom  he  had  converted,  and  who  had  been  lately  cut 
off  by  the  plague.  She  had  some  children  by  her  former 
husband,  and  bore  Calvin  one  son,  who  died  in  infancy. 
She  died  herself  in  1549.  Calvin  appears,  from  his  let- 
ters, to  have  been  deeply  affected  at  her  loss,  and  never 
married  again.  Here  also  he  published  his  Commentary 
on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 

Persons  accustomed  to  the  influence  of  a  powerful 
mind,  though  they  may  rebel  for* a  time,  soon  return  to 
their  allegiance,  and  it  does  not  surprise  us  therefore  to 

VOL.    HI.  g  L 


390  CALVIN. 

find  Calvin  in  1541  reinstated  in  his  authority  at  Genevs. 
With  the  genius  and  temper  of  Hildebrand,  though  with- 
out his  resources,  he  seems  to  have  entertained  the 
magnificent  idea  of  establishing  a  spiritual  empire  in 
opposition,  to  that  of  Rome,  of  which  Geneva  was  to  be 
the  capital,  and  himself  the  Pope.  That  he  failed  is  to 
be  attributed  to  the  circumstances  of  the  time  rather  than 
to  his  own  want  of  genius ;  he  became,  as  Maimbourg 
observes,  not  the  pontiff  only,  but  the  caliph  of  Geneva, 
and  by  his  writings  and  emissaries  gave  laws  to  the  scat- 
tered congregations  of  his  disciples  in  other  countries, 
but  he  failed  in  establishing  an  empire ;  his  influence 
was  that  of  the  mighty  mind  of  an  individual,  and  when 
he  died  he  left  no  successor. 

Calvin  was  not  a  man  to  retire  from  his  principles, 
and  therefore  immediately  upon  his  return  to  Geneva 
he  resumed  the  work,  for  commencing  which  he  had  been 
banished.  He  availed  himself  of  his  popularity  to  estab- 
lish a  consistory,  consisting  of  all  the  ministers  of  religion, 
who  were  to  be  perpetual  members,  and  also  of  twice  the 
same  number  of  laymen  chosen  annually.  To  these  he 
committed  the  charge  of  public  morality,  with  power  to 
determine  all  manner  of  public  causes  ;  with  authority  to 
convene,  controul,  and  punish,  even  with  excommunication, 
whomsoever  they  might  think  deserving.  It  was  in  vain 
that  many  advanced  objections  to  this  scheme  :  that  they 
urged  the  despotic  character  of  this  court ;  the  certainty 
too,  that  perpetual  judges,  though  fewer  in  number,  would 
in  fact  triumph  over  a  majority  annually  elected;  and 
that  Calvin,  through  his  power  over  the  ministry,  would 
be  master  of  the  decisions  of  the  whole  tribunal.  He 
knew  his  popularity,  and  the  people  knew  that  Strasburg 
was  ready  to  receive  him  back,  and  he  persisted  therefore 
inflexibly  in  his  determination ;  and  since  there  now 
remained  with  the  people  of  Geneva  only  the  choice  of 
receiving  his  laws  or  sending  him  once  more  into  exile, 
they  reluctantly  acquiesced,  and  on  the  20th  of  November, 
1541,  the  Presbyterian  religion  was  established  in  Geneva. 


CALVIN.  391 

Calvin  was  thus  a  sovereign  prince  in  fact,  though  with- 
out the  title,  and  he  must  have  the  blame  which  attaches 
to  a  sovereign  for  the  evil  deeds  done  in  the  name  of 
the  state,  as  well  as  accept  the  praise  which  is  due  for 
meritorious  conduct.  He  was  indefatigable.  Notwith- 
standing the  assistance  he  continually  received  from  Farel 
and  from  Viret,  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  how  he  sus- 
tained his  various  labours ;  especially  if  we  consider  that 
he  was  the  subject  of  several  violent  and  continual  disor- 
ders. During  a  fortnight  in  each  month,  he  preached 
every  day ;  gave  three  lectures  in  theology  every  week ; 
assisted  at  all  the  deliberations  of  the  consistory,  and  at 
the  meetings  of  the  pastors  ;  met  the  congregation  every 
Friday ;  instructed  the  French  Churches  by  tbe  frequent 
advices  which  they  solicited  from  him  ;  and  defended  the 
reformation  against  the  attacks  of  its  enemies,  and  parti- 
cularly those  of  the  French  priests. 

Geneva  thus  became  the  common  centre  to  which  all 
persons  opposed  to  the  Church  of  Rome  resorted.  Calvin 
established  an  academy  there,  which  long  maintained  its 
reputation  for  learning.  He  made  the  city  a  literary 
mart,  and  encouraged  all  the  French  refugees,  and  others 
who  sought  his  advice,  to  apply  themselves  to  the  occupa- 
tion of  a  printer  or  librarian ;  and  having  framed  the 
ecclesiastical  regimen,  he  directed  his  attention  to  the 
improvement  of  the  municipal  government  of  the  place  ; 
for  the  council  of  Geneva,  knowing  his  attainments  in 
the  science  of  jurisprudence,  consulted  him  upon  all  mat- 
ters of  importance,  and  employed  him  in  framing  their 
edicts  and  laws,  which  were  completed  and  appeared  in 
1543.  He  encouraged,  both  by  his  speech  and  writings, 
those  who  suffered  persecution  from  the  Popish  party,  and 
was  indefatigable  in  his  public  labours  and  private  studies. 
In  154-2  he  confuted  a  number  of  articles  of  belief,  put 
forward  by  the  faculty  of  theology  of  the  Sorbonne  ;  and 
wrote  against  Pighius  four  books  on  the  subject  of  the 
Freedom  of  the  Will,  which  he  dedicated  to  Melancthon. 
In  the  following  year  he  had  a  quarrel  with  Castalio. 


392  CALVIK 

Calvin  became  acquainted  with  Castalio  in  the  year 
ifeSQ,  at  Strasburg.  In  a  translation  of  the  Bible  into 
Latin,  he  had  attempted  to  make  the  ancient  Hebrew 
writers  speak  in  the  language  of  Cicero,  and  even  endea- 
voured to  make  them  sometimes  breathe  the  tender  verses 
of  Ovid ;  this  version  Calvin  highly  blamed,  as  well  as 
several  sentiments  which  it  contained.  Castalio,  whose 
pride  was  wounded,  asked  permission  of  the  council  ta 
dispute  publicly  with  Calvin  on  the  descent  of  Jesus 
Christ  into  hell,  which,  through  the  influence  of  Calvin, 
they  refused ;  but  he  was  allowed  to  commence  that  dis- 
pute before  the  assembly  of  ministers ;  it  lasted  a  long 
while  without  any  success.  Castalio  at  length  became  so 
highly  irritated,  that  he  attacked  Calvin  in  a  sermon; 
and  the  council,  or  rather  Calvin  acting  through  the  coun- 
cil, deposed  him  from  the  ministry.  Castalio  retired  to 
Basil,  where  he  persisted  in  his  singularities,  and  in  his 
hatred  of  Calvin,  until  the  time  of  his  death. 

On  the  assembling  of  the  synod  at  Spires,  Calvin  took 
occasion  to  publish  a  paper  on  the  Necessity  of  Ecclesias- 
tical Reform  :  this  was  followed  by  two  tracts  against  the 
Anabaptists,  and  another  against  the  Nicomedians,  who 
maintained,  that  while  they  repudiated  the  errors  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  they  might  conform  to  it  externally,  in 
countries  where  Romanism  was  established. 

In  the  year  1547,  James  Gruet  was  apprehended  for 
affixing  to  the  pulpit  of  the  ancient  cathedral,  what  was 
considered  to  be  a  libel  against  the  reformed  of  Geneva, 
and  particularly  the  reformers  and  ministers.  Being 
apprehended,  and  his  papers  and  letters  examined,  they 
were  found  to  contain  several  passages  against  Calvin  and 
the  Presbyterian  discipline  which  he  had  established.  He 
was  accused  of  having  spoken  with  contempt  of  religion 
and  the  laws,  of  having  written  licentious  songs,  of  having 
endeavoured  to  overthrow  the  authority  of  the  consistory, 
and  of  having  spoken  disrespectfully  of  the  Genevese 
preachers,  and  particularly  of  Calvin.  Gruet  was  be- 
headed on  the  26th  of  July. 


CALVIN.  393 

In  the  same  year  that  this  legal  murder  was  perpetrated, 
Calvin  wrote  his  antidote  against  the  acts  of  the  council 
of  Trent,  and  a  letter  to  the  reformed  congregations  at 
Rouen,  against  the  practices  of  a  Franciscan,  who  was 
employed  in  disseminating  the  principles  of  Carpocrates, 
which  the  reformers  of  the  Anabaptist  persuasion  had 
lately  revived.  His  commentary  on  six  of  the  Epistles  of 
St.  Paul  was  published  in  1548  or  1549  ;  he  wrote  also  a 
tract  against  the  Interim. 

In  the  mean  time  he  was  consolidating  his  power  in 
Geneva ,  he  received  with  open  arms  the  persecuted  or 
the  discontented  from  aU  other  countries,  and  Geneva 
became  the  refuge  for  the  destitute,  whose  gratitude  to 
their  protector  knew  no  bounds  ;  over  the  reformers  of 
Germany  he  endeavoured,  though  not  with  success,  to 
establish  his  influence,  and  seeing  that  it  was  a  hopeless 
task  to  attempt  to  reconcile  the  Lutherans  and  the 
Zuinglians,  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Lords  Supper,  he 
threw  himself  more  completely  into  the  Zuinglian  party, 
and  at  a  conference  with  the  reformed  ministers  of  Zurich, 
in  1549,  he  altered  or  modified  the  opinions  he  had  for- 
merly expressed  concerning  the  Eucharist ;  and  united, 
by  an  agreement,  the  congregations  of  Zurich  and  Geneva 
in  the  closest  bonds. 

While  consolidating  his  power  in  foreign  parts,  he 
preserved  Geneva  in  a  state  of  tranquillity,  until  he  began 
to  extend  the  powers  of  the  consistory,  now  entirely  un- 
der his  control.  The  first  symptoms  of  opposition  were 
shewn,  when,  acting  through  the  consistoiy,  he  gave  direc- 
tions for  the  non-observance  of  Christmas-day,  and  ordain- 
ed that  no  days  should  be  observed  except  Sunday.  His 
opponents  asserted  that  the  right  of  citizenship  ought  not 
to  be  conferred  upon  strangers  taking  refuge  in  Geneva, 
and  so  strong  was  the  feeling  at  one  time  excited  against 
him,  that  meeting  him  on  his  return  from  preaching,  a 
mob  forced  him  into  the  middle  of  the  road,  an  insult 
which  he  resented,  and  they  attempted  to  throw  Raymond, 
'2  L  '2 


394  CALVIN. 

his  colleague,  over  the  bridge  of  the  Rhone.  They 
afterwards  excited  a  tumuU  in  the  church  of  St.  Gervais, 
because  the  minister,  following  a  iiile  laid  down  by 
Calvin,  refused  to  give  the  name  of  Baltazar,  to  a  child 
whom  they  brought  to  be  baptized. 

But  by  the  steady  perseverance  of  Calvin,  and  the  power 
of  his  party,  these  disturbances  were  subdued,  and  the 
sternness  of  his    rule    kept    people   in   check.     Of  his 
severity  we  have  an  instance  in  his  treatment  of  Bolsec. 
Jerome  Bolsec,  a  Carmelite  friar  of  Paris,  having  embraced 
the  tenets  of  the  Genevan  reformation,   was  permitted  to 
preach.     But,  unfortunately  for  himself,  he  ventured  to 
take  a  different  view  of  the  dogma  of  predestination  from 
that  taken  by  Calvin,  who  endeavoured  to  convince  Bolsec 
in  private  conversation  of  what  Calvin  deemed  to  be  his 
errors.      Bolsec  naturally  thought  that  his  view  of  pre- 
destination was   as  likely  to  be  right  as  that  of  Calvin, 
and  was  not  convinced  by  his  arguments.    On  the  contrary, 
he  publicly  asserted  his  sentiments,  in  reply  to  a  sermon 
which  had  been  preached  on  the  subject  of  predestination; 
Calvin  was  not  in  his  usual  place,   and  the  incautious 
Bolsec,  in  the  absence  of  the   Genevan  pontiff,  felt  his 
confidence  increase.     But  Calvin  was  present  amongst  the 
crowd,  and  no  sooner  had  Bolsec  concluded  than  Calvin 
arose  and  answered  him,  or  attempted  to  do  so.     Bolsec 
had  surely  as  much  right  to  exercise  his  private  judgment 
on   this    subject   as    Calvin  upon    any   otfier,    but  such 
was  not  the  law  of  Geneva ;  Bolsec  was  sent  to  prison, 
and  afterwards  brought  to  trial.     He  was  banished  from 
Geneva  on  the  18th  of  December,    1551,  with  a  threat, 
that  if  ever  he  were  found  within  the  city  or  its  territory, 
he  would  be  treated  with  signal  severity.     The  ministers 
of  Geneva  approved  of  what  Calvin  had  written  on  pre- 
destination ;  though  there  were  not  wanting  some  in  the 
canton   of  Berne   who   asserted  that  he  made   God  the 
author  of  sin. 

To  Michael   Servetus  the  conduct  of  Cal^^n  was  still 


CALVIN.  395 

more  severe.  Servetus,  a  physician,  and  an  anti-trini- 
tarian  protestant,  was  bom  at  Villa  Nuova  in  AiTagon, 
in  the  same  year  with  Calvin,  with  whom  he  had  long 
been  engaged  in  a  correspondence,  which  finally  degener- 
ated into  angry  and  abusive  controversy.  He  agreed  v.ith 
Calvin  in  holding  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible 
only;  and  with  him,  rejecting  the  authority  of  tradition,  of 
the  fathers  and  the  councils,  he  asserted  the  right  of 
private  judgment.  But  unfortunately  for  Servetus  he  did 
not  understand  that  no  private  judgment  could  be  right, 
unless  it  coincided  with  the  private  judgment  of  Calvin. 
Holding  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  only,  as  interpreted  by 
his  private  judgment,  he  rejected  the  doctrine  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  and  blasphemed  the  God  of  Christians.  He 
published  very  early  in  life,  "  Seven  Books  concerning 
the  Errors  of  the  Trinity,"  and  he  continued  in  the  same 
principles  until  the  ^ear  1553,  when  he  put  forth  at 
Vienne  in  Dauphine,  a  work  entitled  Christianismi 
Restitutio.  The  Zuinglian  and  Calvinistic  reformers  were 
justly  alarmed  at  seeing  their  principles,  of  the  Bible, 
and  the  Bible  only,  and  private  judgment,  thus  pushed 
to  their  extreme  conclusions ;  and  QEcolampadius,  in 
writing  to  Bucer,  remarked,  "  Our  Church  will  be  very 
ill  spoken  of,  unles:;  our  divines  make  it  their  business  to 
cry  him  down."  "And  had  they  been  contented  to  pro- 
claim their  dissent  from  his  doctrine,"  (observ^es  the 
intelligent  writer  of  Calvin's  Life  in  Knight's  Gallery  of 
Portraits,  from  whom  we  shall  transcribe  this  account  of 
Servetus,)  "  or  to  assail  it  by  reasonable  argument,  they 
would  have  done  no  more  than  their  duty  to  their  own 
communion  absolutely  demanded  of  them. 

"  But  Calvin  was  not  a  man  who  would  argue  where  he 
could  command,  or  persuade  where  he  could  overthrow. 
Full  of  vehemence  and  bitterness,  inflexible  and  relentless, 
he  was  prepared  to  adopt  and  to  justify  extreme  measures, 
wheresoever  they  answered  his  purpose  best.  He  was 
animated  by  the  pride,  intolerance,  and  cruelty  of  the 


396  CALVIN. 

Church  of  Rome,  and  he  planted  and  nourished  those  evil 
passions  in  his  little  consistory  of  Geneva. 

"  Survetus,  having  escaped  from  confinement  at  Vienne, 
and  flying  for  refuge  to  Naples,  was  driven  by  evil  destiny, 
or  his  own  infatuation,  to  Geneva.  Here  he  strove  to 
conceal  himself,  till  he  should  be  enabled  to  proceed  on 
his  journey  ;  but  he  was  quickly  discovered  by  Calvin, 
and  immediately  cast  into  prison.  This  was  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1553.  Presently  followed  the  formality  of  his 
trial ;  and  when  we  read  the  numerous  articles  of  impeach- 
ment, and  observe  the  language  in  which  they  are  couched ; 
— w^hen  we  peruse  the  humble  petitions  which  he  ad- 
dressed to  the  '  Syndics  and  Council,'  praying  only  that  an 
advocate  might  be  granted  him,  w^hich  prayer  was  haugh- 
tily refused ; — when  we  perceive  the  misrepresentations 
of  his  doctrine,  and  the  offensive  terms  of  his  condemna- 
tion, we  appear  to  be  carried  back  again  to  the  Halls  of 
Constance,  and  to  be  witnessing  the  fall  of  Huss  and 
Jerome  beneath  their  Roman  Catholic  oppressors.  So 
true  it  is  (as  Grotius  had  sufficient  reason  to  say),  '  that 
the  Spirit  of  Antichrist  did  appear  at  Geneva  as  well  as 
at  Rome.' 

"  But  the  magistrates  of  this  republic  did  not  venture 
completely  to  execute  the  will  of  Calvin,  without  first  con- 
sulting the  other  Protestant  cities  of  Switzerland;  namely, 
Zurich,  Berne,  Basle,  and  Schaffhausen.  The  answers 
returned  by  these  all  indicated  very  great  anxiety  for  the 
extinction  of  the  heresy,  without  however  expressly  de- 
manding the  blood  of  the  heretic.  The  people  of  Zurich 
were  the  most  violent :  and  the  answer  of  their  '  Pastors, 
Readers,  and  Ministers,'  which  is  praised  and  preserved 
by  Calvin,  is  worthy  of  the  communion  from  which  they 
had  so  lately  seceded.  As  soon  as  these  communications 
reached  Geneva,  Servetus  was  immediately  condemned  to 
death  (on  the  26th  of  October,  1553),  and  was  executed  on 
the  day  following. 

"  There  is  extant  a  letter  written  by  Calvin  to  his  friend 
and   brother-minister,    William  Farel,    (dated    the   '20th), 


CALVIN.  397 

which  announces  that  the  fatal  sentence  had  been  passed, 
and  would  be  executed  on  the  morrow.  It  is  only  remark- 
able for  the  cold  conciseness  and  heartless  indifference  of 
its  expressions.  Not  a  single  word  indicates  any  feeling 
of  compassion  or  repugnance.  And  as  the  work  of  perse- 
cution was  carried  on  without  mercy,  and  completed  with- 
out pity,  so  likewise  was  it  recollected  without  remorse ; 
and  the  Protestant  republican  minister  of  Christ  continued 
for  some  years  afterwards  to  insult  with  abusive  epithets 
the  memory  of  his  victim. 

"  Soon  after  the  death  of  Sei-vetus.  Calvin  published  a 
vindication  of  his  proceedings,  in  which  he  defended, 
without  any  compromise,  the  principle  on  which  he  had 
acted.  It  is  entitled,  '  A  Faithful  Exposition  and  short 
Refutation  of  the  Errors  of  Servetus,  wherein  it  is  shown 
that  heretics  should  be  restrained  by  the  power  of  the 
sword.'  His  friend  and  biographer  Beza,  also  put  forth  a'; 
work,  '  On  the  propriety  of  punishing  Heretics  by  the 
Civil  authority.'  Thus  Calvin  not  only  indulged  his  own 
malevolent  humour,  but  also  sought  to  establish  among 
the  avowed  principles  of  his  own  Church  the  duty  of  exter- 
minating all  who  might  happen  to  diffffer  from  it." 

Another  writer  observes,  that  *'  the  more  closely  this 
treatment  of  Sei-vetus  is  examined,  the  more  deeply  it  will 
be  found  to  stamp  on  Calvin  the  brand  of  intolerance  and 
barbarity.  No  sooner  did  his  unsuspecting  victim  come 
within  his  reach,  than  he  sprang  upon  him  with  the 
ferocity  of  a  tiger.  He  precipitated  the  accomplishment 
of  the  dreadful  deed.  He  looked  forward  to  it  with 
indifference,  if  not  with  satisfaction ;  he  looked  back  upon 
it  without  remorse."  It  is  certain  that  letters  have  been 
produced,  written  by  Calvin  to  Bolsec  and  Farel,  in  which 
he  expressly  declares,  alluding  to  the  expected  visit  of 
Servetus  to  Geneva,  "  Jam  constitutum  habeo,  si  veniet, 
nunquam  pati  ut  salvus,  (^some  letters  have  vivus)  exeat." 
Of  the  many  circumstances  of  aggravation  attending  this 
legal  murder,  the  most  striking  is,  that  Servetus  had  not 
pubhshed  his  book  at  Geneva,  but  at  Vienne ;  and  that 


398  CALVIN. 

he  was  not  the  subject  of  that  republic,  nor  domiciled  in 
that  city. 

The  conduct  of  Calvin  towards  Gentilis  was  in  perfect 
keeping  with  his  conduct  towards  Servetus,  and  he  was 
only  prevented  from  shedding  blood  again,  by  the  fortunate 
circumstance  that  Gentilis  retracted  his  errors.  Gentilis 
was  not  a  follower  of  Servetus,  but  seems  rather  to  have 
been  a  tritheist.  At  first  he  proposed  his  opinion  pri- 
vately, and  amongst  other  persons,  to  Jean  Paul  Alciat 
Milanois,  and  to  Georges  Blandrata,  a  physician,  pro- 
fessing only  to  examine  the  reasons  which  might  support, 
and  those  which  might  overthrow  it.  But  the  consistory 
of  the  Italian  Church,  having  been  informed  that  this 
sentiment  was  spreading  throughout  the  town,  convoked 
an  extraordinary  assembly,  at  which,  in  the  presence  of  a 
certain  number  of  seigneurs,  chosen  for  the  occasion,  and 
of  all  the  ministers  and  elders,  the  reasons  alleged  in 
support  of  that  doctrine  were  refuted  by  Calvin ;  this 
conference  induced  all  the  Italians  to  sign  the  orthodox 
doctrine,  with  the  exception  of  six,  who  shortly  afterwards, 
at  the  solicitation  of  their  friends,  signed  it  also,  although 
they  did  not  approve  of  it,  as  soon  became  evident. 
Valentine  Gentilis  at  first  refused  to  subscribe  the  pro- 
posed formulary ;  he,  however,  complied  afterwards,  but 
continued  to  dogmatize  against  the  received  doctrine,  on 
which  account  he  was  committed  to  prison,  where  he  held 
a  dispute  with  Calvin,  on  the  15th  of  July,  who  answered 
him  in  writing.  Being  convicted  of  perjury  and  of 
voluntary  heresy,  he  was  condemned  to  be  beheaded. 
Having,  however,  abjured  his  heresies,  his  sentence  was 
commuted  for  an  ignominious  punishment,  to  which  he 
submitted  on  the  2nd  of  September. 

What  was  meant  by  the  right  of  private  judgment, 
when  asserted  by  Calvin,  it  is  difficult  to  conjecture.  But 
his  conduct  is  less  surprising  when  we  think  of  the 
Puritans  of  the  present  day.  Nothing  shews  more  de- 
pravity of  heart,  than  for  a  Puritan  or  dissenter  to  speak 
of  heresy.     To  hold  the  right  of  private  judgment,  and  to 


CALVIN.  399 

call  another  a  heretic,  is  a  proof  that  a  person  in  such  a 
predicament  is,  if  not  weak  in  intellect,  a  man  utterly  void 
of  Christian  feeling. 

The  inflexibility  of  Calvin's  character,  which  preserved 
him  through  life  on  his  Genevan  throne,  is  strikingly 
exemplified  in  his  conduct  with  respect  to  Bertelier. 
Bertelier,  a  man  of  lax  morals,  having  been  suspended 
from  the  communion  of  the  Church,  urged  on  by  Perrin, 
sought  from  the  council  a  reversal  of  the  sentence.  This 
was  granted,  and  the  enemies  of  Calvin  pleased  themselves 
with  the  belief  that  they  had  him  upon  the  horns  of  a 
dilemma,  from  which  all  his  dexterity  would  not  be  able 
to  extricate  him  ;  for  he  must  now  either  resist  the  autho- 
rity of  the  consistory,  or  submit  to  the  subversion  of  his 
cherished  discipline.  But  they  little  knew  the  character 
of  the  reformer.  Calvin,  having  received  notice  of  the 
resolution  of  the  counciHwo  days  before  the  administration 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  instantly  resolved  upon  the  course 
he  would  pursue,  and  on  the  Sunday,  having  preached 
with  energy  against  those  who  profaned  the  sacred  myste- 
ries, closed  with  these  words, — "  For  my  own  part,  after 
the  example  of  Chrysostom,  I  will  sooner  expose  myself 
to  death  than  allow  this  hand  to  stretch  forth  the  sacred 
things  of  the  Lord  to  those  who  despise  his  ordinances." 
These  expressions  produced  such  effect  upon  the  oppo- 
nents of  Calvin,  that  Perrin  secretly  despatched  a  mes- 
senger to  Bertelier  to  desire  him  not  to  present  himself 
at  the  communion.  But  Calvin  did  not  stop  here ;  he 
was  determined  to  provide  effectually  against  the  recur- 
rence of  such  a  proceeding  Accordingly,  on  the  evening 
of  the  same  day,  after  discoursing  upon  the  Apostle's 
farewell  to  the  Church  of  Ephesus,  (Acts  xx.  32)  declar- 
ing that  he  would  never  countenance,  either  by  advice 
or  example,  disobedience  to  the  civil  power,  and  exhort- 
ing the  people  to  persevere  in  the  doctrine  they  had 
heard,  he  concluded  his  sermon  as  if  it  were  the  last  he  was 
ever  to  preach  at  Geneva,  in  these  words, — "  Seeing  that 
such  is  the  present  condition  of  affairs  here,  permit  me 


400  CALVIN. 

also,  my  brethren,  to  apply  to  you  the  words  of  the  x^postle, 
'  I  commend  you  to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace.'" 
The  effect  of  this  address  was  overpowering.  The  decree 
of  the  council  was  suspended,  and  things  quietly  returned 
to  their  former  course.  In  the  same  year  Calvin  pub- 
lished his  commentaries  on  St.  John  ;  and  not  long  after 
he  repaired  to  Berne  to  defend  himself  against  the  at- 
tacks of  Castalio  and  Bolsec,  both  of  whom  he  caused  to 
be  banished  from  that  territory.  In  1559  he  was  pre- 
sented with  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  Geneva,  and  in  the 
same  year  he  was  seized  with  a  quartan  ague,  which 
greatly  shattered  his  fragile  frame ;  he  did  not,  however, 
intermit  his  labours,  but  revised  and  republished  his 
Institutes,  in  Latin  and  French,  and  enlarged  and  im- 
proved his  commentary  on  Isaiah.  In  1561  the  state  of 
his  health  prevented  him  from  attending  at  the  famous 
conference  at  Poissy.  It  appears,  however,  from  his 
correspondence  with  Beza,  and  with  several  of  the  depu- 
ties from  the  reformed  in  France,  that  no  step  was  taken 
on  their  part  on  that  occasion  without  Calvin's  advice  and 
consent.  Hitherto  his  party  had  been  identified  with  the 
Lutherans,  or  at  least  was  regarded  by  the  Roman 
Catholics  as  holding  the  tenets  set  forth  in  the  Augsburg 
Confession.  But  at  Poissy  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine, 
having  distinctly  asked  the  deputies  from  France  and 
Geneva  whether  they  adopted  that  confession,  received  for 
answer,  that  they  rejected  the  tenth  article,  which  relates 
to  the  holy  communion ;  and  accordingly,  the  followers  of 
Calvin  thenceforth  formed  a  distinct  sect,  and  were  called 
Calvmists. 

The  disputes  in  which  Calvin  was  interested  were  not 
yet  finished :  in  1561,  a  fresh  discussion  arose  between 
him  and  Baldwin,  who  had  published  during  the  confer- 
ence of  Poissy,  a  book  of  Cassander's,  under  the  title, 
De  Officio  pii  ac  publicae  tranquilitatis  vere  amantis  in 
hoc  religionis  studio.  To  this  work  Calvin  replied ;  a 
controversy  ensued,  in  the  course  of  which,  a  warmth 
of  temper  was  betrayed  on  both  sides,   which  reflected 


CALVIN.  401 

no  honour  on  the  disputants ;  but  which  is  far  from  being 
singular  in  theological  controversies. 

For  the  two  following  years  his  infirmities  increased, 
and  in  1563  they  became  so  severe  and  complicated,  that 
it  was  a  matter  of  astonishment  to  his  friends  how  a  body 
so  vrasted  by  disease  could  continue  to  exist.  Yet  he  still 
persevered  in  his  studies  and  public  duties,  and,  untired 
himself,  exhausted  his  amanuensis  by  dictating  to  him. 
His  last  undertaking  was  his  Commentary  on  the  Book  of 
Joshua,  which  he  commenced  this  year,  and  finished  on 
his  death-bed.  On  the  6th  of  February,  1564,  he  preached 
his  last  sermon,  and  on  the  same  day  delivered  his  last 
lecture  in  theolog}^  He  was,  indeed,  often  carried  to  the 
congregation,  but  he  seldom  spoke.  In  a  letter  which  he 
wrote  to  the  physicians  of  Montpellier,  he  gives  an  account 
of  the  numerous  ailments  under  which  he  had  long 
laboured.  He  had  but  little  sleep.  For  the  last  ten  years 
of  his  life  he  was  never  able  to  take  nourishment  till 
supper-time.  He  was  subject  to  headache,  the  only 
remedy  for  which  was  abstinence,  on  which  account  he 
sometimes  remained  for  six-and-thirty  hoars  without  food. 
Five  years  before  his  death  he  was  seized  with  a  spitting 
of  blood.  He  was  no  sooner  freed  from  the  quartan  ague 
than  he  was  attacked  with  the  gout;  he  was  afterwards 
afflicted  with  the  cholic,  and,  a  few  months  before  he  died, 
with  the  stone.  The  physicians  exhausted  their  art  upon 
him,  and  no  man  ever  observed  their  instructions  with 
more  regularity.  But  so  far  as  mental  labour  w^as  con- 
cerned, no  man  was  ever  less  careful  of  himself;  the 
most  violent  headaches  never  prevented  him  from  occupy- 
ing the  pulpit  in  his  turn.  On  the  2nd  of  April,  though 
much  reduced,  he  attended  public  worship,  and  received 
the  sacrament  from  the  hands  of  Beza ;  listening  also  to 
the  sermon,  and  joining,  as  well  as  he  was  able,  in  the 
psalmody.  On  the  28th,  all  the  ministers  of  the  town 
and  neighbourhood  being  assembled  in  his  room,  according 
to  his  desire,  he  delivered  to  them  a  parting  address.   His 

VOL.  III.  2  M 


402  CALVIN. 

friend  Farel,  venerable  for  his  piety  and  his  years,  came 
from  Neufchatel  to  take  a  last  adieu  ;  and  the  scene  was 
tender  and  affecting.  On  the  24th  of  May,  1564,  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  he  expired,  having  retained  his 
senses,   and  even  his  speech,  to  the  last. 

We  will  give  Calvin's  character  as  it  appeared  to  himself. 
In  writing  to  Melancthon,  he  says,  "  I  own  myself  much 
your  inferior ;  yet  am  I  in  no  way  ignorant  to  what  a  degree 
God  has  exalted  me  in  this  theatre,  nor  can  our  friendship 
be  violated  without  injuring  the  Church."     In  his  answer 
to  Balduinus,  he  says,  "  He  tells  me,  with  reproach,  that 
I  have  no  children,    and  that  God  had  snatched  away  the 
son  He  had  bestowed  upon  me.     Ought  I  to   be  thus 
reproached?     I  who  have   so  many  thousand   children 
throughout  all  Christendom."    To  which  he  adds,  "  To  all 
France  is  known  my  irreproachable  faith,   my  integrity, 
my  patience,  my  watchfulness,  my  moderation,  my  assidu- 
ous labours,  for  the  service  of  the  Church  :  things  that 
from  my  early  youth  stand  proved  by  so  many  illustrious 
tokens.     With  the   support  of  such  a  conscience,  to  be 
able  to  hold  my  station  to  the  very  end  of  life  is  enough 
for  me."     In  another  place  he  commends  his  frugality, 
his  incessant  labours,  his  constancy  in  dangers,  his  watch- 
fulness to  comply  with  his  charge,  his  indefatigable  appli- 
cation to  extend  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  his  integrity  in 
defending  the  doctrine  of  piety,  and  the  serious  occupa- 
tion  of  his   whole   life   in   the   meditation   of  heavenly 
things."     Westphalus,  a  Lutheran,  having  called   him  a 
declaimer,   Calvin  says,  "  Do  what  he  will,   no  body  will 
ever  give  him  credit ;  and  the  whole  world  is  fully  satis- 
fied how  well  I  know  how  to  judge  an  argument,  how  dis- 
tinct is  that  conciseness  with  which  I  write." 

Bucer  ouce  complained  of  his  impetuosity  of  temper ; 
Calvin  was  conscious  of  it,  and  wrote  to  him  expressly  to 
acknowledge  the  fault.  "  I  have  not  had  sharper  con- 
flicts," said  he,  "  with  any  of  my  great  and  numerous 
vices,  than  with  my  impatience ;  and  my  efforts  are  not 


CAMERON.  408 

wholly  in  vain.  I  have  not,  however,  yet  been  able  to 
tame  that  ferocious  monster."  From  avarice,  that  beset- 
ting vice  of  ignoble  minds,  he  was  wholly  free.  The  total 
value  of  his  property  at  his  death,  according  to  the  largest 
computation,  did  not  amount  to  three  hundred  crowns. 

The  Romanists  are  very  severe  on  the  persecuting  spirit 
of  Calvin,  and  no  one  can  find  less  excuse  than  he,  for  he 
persecuted  persons  who  accepted  his  principles,  the  right 
of  private  judgment  especially,  and  only  differed  from  him 
in  their  application.  But  after  all  Calvin  was  not  worse 
than  Bonner  and  Gardiner,  nor  the  Consistory  of  Geneva 
than  the  Spanish  Inquisition. 

The  best  edition  of  Calvin's  works  is  that  of  Amsterdam, 
1667,  in  nine  vols.  In  1576  Beza  published  a  collection 
of  his  letters,  with  an  account  of  his  life. — Beza.  Bayle, 
Bossuet.     Calvin's  Works,    Scotfs  Continuation  of  Milner. 


CAMERON,    JOHN. 

John  Cameron,  of  the  family  of  Lochiel,  was  official  of 
Lothian,  in  the  year  14'2^.  He  afterwards  became  con- 
fessor and  secretary  to  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  who  presented 
him  to  the  rectory  of  Cambuslang.  In  1424  he  was  made 
provost  of  the  priory  of  Lincluden,  near  Dumfries.  He 
was  successively  promoted  to  the  offices  of  Keeper  of  the 
great  seal  and  privy  seal,  and  Secretary  to  James  I.  In 
14Q6  he  was  elected  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  and  continued 
keeper  of  the  privy  seal.  In  the  24th  year  of  James  I., 
1428,  he  was  appointed  Lord  High  Chancellor.  In  the 
year  1429  we  find  him  converting  six  churches  within 
his  diocese,  by  the  consent  of  their  respective  patrons,  into 
prebends.  He  also  fixed  particular  offices  to  particular 
churches,  such  as  the  rector  of  Cambuslang  to  be  per- 
petual chancellor  of  the  Church  of  Glasgow,  the  rector  of 
Canwath  to  be  treasurer,  the  rector  of  Kilbride  to  be 
chanter,  &c.  In  the  year  1433,  Bishop  Cameron  was 
chosen  one  of  the  delegates  from  the  Church  of  Scotland  to 


404  CAMERON. 

the  council  of  Basil ;  and  accordingly  he  set  out,  ^^'ith  a 
safe-conduct  from  the  King  of  England,  ^Yith  a  retinue  of 
no  less  than  thirty  persons  And  as  the  truce  with  Eng- 
land was  near  to  a  close  on  the  30th  of  November,  1437, 
Mr.  Rymer  has  published  another  safe-conduct  for  ambas- 
sadors from  Scotland  to  come  into  England  about  pro- 
rogation of  the  peace;  and  the  first  of  these  named  is 
John  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  Chancellor  of  Scotland.  He  was 
Bishop  here  in  1439,  in  1440,  in  1444,  and  Bishop  and 
Chancellor  anno  3rd  regis  Jacobi  II.  So  it  is  evident, 
from  the  clearest  vouchei-s,  that  this  person  remained 
chancellor  for  the  first  three  years  of  the  reign  of  King 
James  II.,  contrary  to  what  all  our  historians  have 
written,  which  affords  a  strong  presumption  that  the  story 
concerning  his  tragical  end  is  a  mere  fiction.  After  the 
Bishop  s  removal  from  the  chancellor's  office,  and  so  being 
freed  from  public  business,  he  began  to  build  the  great 
tower  at  his  episcopal  palace  in  the  city  of  Glasgow,  where 
his  coat-armorial  is  to  be  seen  to  this  day,  with  mitre, 
crosier,  and  all  the  badges  of  the  episcopal  dignity.  And 
the  fore-mentioned  writer  of  the  Lives  of  the  Officers  of 
State  takes  notice,  that  he  also  laid  out  a  great  deal  of 
money  in  carrying  on  the  building  of  the  vestry,  which 
was  begun  by  his  predecessor  Bishop  Lauder,  where  his 
arms  are  likewise  to  be  seen  by  the  curious.  But  for  all 
the  good  things  Bishop  Cameron  did,  and  which  is 
strange,  adds  this  author,  he  is  as  little  beholden  to  the 
charity  of  our  historians  as  any  man  in  his  time.  George 
Buchanan,  and  Archbishop  Spottiswood,  from  Mr.  George» 
characterize  the  Bishop  to  be  a  very  worldly  kind  of  man, 
and  a  great  oppressor,  especially  of  his  vassals  within  the 
bishopric.  They  tell  us,  moreover,  that  he  made  a  very 
fearful  exit  at  his  country-seat  of  Lochwood,  five  or  six 
miles  north-east  of  the  city  of  Glasgow,  on  Christmas  eve 
of  the  year  1436  ;  and  then  this  gentleman  says,  "Indeed, 
it  is  very  hard  for  me,  though  I  have  no  particular  attach- 
ment to  Bishop  Cameron,  to  form  such  a  bad  opinion  of 
the  man,  from  what  good  things  I  have  seen  done  by  him ; 


CAMERON.  405 

and  withal,  considering  how  much  he  was  favoured  and 
employed  by  the  best  of  princes,  I  mean  King  James  II., 
and  for  so  long  a  time  too,  in  the  first  office  of  the 
state,  and  in  the  second  place  in  the  Church,  especially 
since  the  good  Mr.  Buchanan  brings  no  voucher  to  prove 
his  assertion, — only  he  says,  it  had  been  delivered  by 
others,  and  constantly  affirmed  to  be  true,  which  amounts 
to  be  no  more,  in  my  humble  opinion,  than  that  he  sets 
down  the  story  upon  no  better  authority  than  a  mere 
hearsay." 

Bishop  Cameron  wrote  his  enacted  Canons,  v»^hich  are 
still  extant  in  manuscript  in  Bibhotheca,  Harl.  No.  4631, 
vol.  1.  p.  47. — Keith's  Scottish  Bishops. 

CAMEBON,    JOHN. 

JoHX  Cameron  was  bom  at  Glasgow  about  the  year 
1580.  He  studied  af  the  university  of  his  native  place, 
and  after  reading  lectures  on  Greek,  went  to  France, 
where  the  Protestant  ministers  appointed  him  master  of 
their  new  College  at  Bergerac ;  from  whence  he  removed 
to  the  philosophical  professorship  at  Sedan,  and  remained 
there  two  years.  He  then  went  to  Paris,  and  next  to 
Bourdeaux,  where  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  ministers, 
and  officiated  with  such  reputation,  as  to  be  called  to  the 
theological  chair  in  the  university  of  Saumur.  Here  he 
remained  till  16-20,  when  the  civil  war  obliged  him  to 
visit  England. 

They  say  that  Cameron  was  well  received  at  Court, 
because  in  expounding  the  famous  passages,  Thou  art 
Peter,  and  Tell  it  to  the  Church,  he  approved  of  the 
hierarchy.  For  this  reason  they  recommended  him  to 
King  James,  who,  by  the  advice  of  the  Bishop  of  Ely, 
sent  him  into  Scotland,  and  conferred  on  him  the  office  of 
professor  of  divinity,  in  the  room  of  Robert  Boyd,  of 
Trochrig.  They  were  glad  therefore  to  get  him  from 
Glasgow,  and  put  Cameron  in  his  room,  who  was  likewise 
2m  2 


406  CAMERON. 

made  head  of  the  college.  By  this  means  Cameron 
became  distasteful  to  the  Puritans,  so  that  seeing  himself 
a  stranger  in  his  own  country,  he  thought  of  returning 
into  France.  Arriving  at  Saumur,  he  read  lectures  in 
private,  the  court  having  interdicted  his  public  teaching. 
He  passed  a  year  in  this  precarious  state,  and  then  went 
to  Montaubon,  where  he  was  chosen  theological  professor. 
Here,  having  declared  himself  too  openly  against  the 
party  which  preached  up  the  civil  war,  he  raised  many 
enemies,  amongst  whom  was  one  so  brutal  as  to  beat  him 
to  that  degree  that  he  left  him  for  dead.  Cameron  retired 
to  Moissac,  but  finding  the  change  of  air  had  neither 
restored  his  health  nor  dispelled  his  melancholy,  he 
returned  to  Montaubon,  where  he  died  through  weakness 
and  chagrin,  when  he  was  about  forty-six  years  of  age. 
His  manner  of  preaching  was  not  very  pleasing.  His 
sermons  were  usually  two  hours  long,  and  he  w^ould  on  a 
sudden  start  from  the  matter  in  hand,  and  perplex  his 
auditors  with  enthusiastical  digressions,  which  no  one 
understood.  In  the  midst  of  his  sermons  he  would 
unbutton  himself,  and  spread  his  handkerchief  like  a 
towel  before  him,  every  now  and  then  plucking  off  his  hat. 
He  was  not  sensible  how  he  fatigued  his  auditory ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  fancied  that  they  were  charmed  with  his 
eloquence  ;  but  having  engaged  a  tradesman  truly  and 
ingenuously  to  tell  him  what  the  world  said  of  his 
sermons,  the  man  told  him  a  piece  of  news  that  wonder- 
fully mortified  him  ;  would  you,  sir,  said  the  honest  fellow, 
that  I  should  tell  you  what  opinion  your  flock  has  of  you  ? 
To  be  plain  with  you,  sir,  the  world  cannot  relish  your 
sermons,  they  hear  you  with  the  greatest  dissatisfaction. 
Cameron,  who  expected  a  quite  different  account,  retired 
very  much  dejected.  It  touched  him  to  the  quick.  It 
lay  upon  his  spirits  several  days  together :  it  made  him 
look  pale  and  melancholy,  nor  was  he  able  to  conceal  his 
grief  from  his  colleague.  But  he  who  was  his  intimate 
friend,  alhived  it  with  these  seasonable  consolations.     Are 


CAMERON.  407 

you  a  man,  said  he,  and  yet  depend  upon  the  judgment 
of  an  idiot  ?  Can  so  insignificant  a  matter  discompose 
you  ?  Are  you  not  sensible  all  the  genteel  part  of  your 
church,  the  learned  and  understanding,  hear  you  with  a 
great  deal  of  pleasure  and  profit  ?  This  plaister  mitigated 
the  pain,  but  did  not  altogether  heal  the  wound.  Cameron 
relapsed  into  his  inquietude,  and  had  recourse  to  a  second 
trial :  he  demanded  of  an  advocate  the  same  thing  he  had 
done  before  of  the  artizan,  and  had  from  him  the  same 
answer:  whereupon  he  resolved  to  quit  Bourdeaux,  and  to 
do  his  best  to  mend  his  condition  in  another  place. 

By  the  rebellion  which  was  preached  around  him,  and 
by  the  violence  he  himself  endured,  he  was  led  to  suspect 
that  Protestantism  was  not,  of  itself,  more  productive  of 
Gospel  fruits  than  Romanism,  and  he  gave  offence  by 
frankly  owning  that  he  thought  that  much  reform  was 
necessary  in  the  reformed  churches.  He  believed  St.  Peter 
to  be  the  foundation' of  the  Church,  and  was  much 
provoked  with  those  Protestants  who,  in  the  spirit  of 
inquisitors,  affirmed  that  salvation  was  not  to  be  had  in 
the  Roman  Communion.  He  boldly  attacked  one  of  the 
ultra- Protestant  Popes,  Beza,  and  offended  his  friends  by 
speaking  lightly  of  many  reformers  who  had  not,  as  he 
declared,  penetrated  into  the  marrow  of  the  theological 
science.  He  propounded  that  doctrine  of  universal  grace, 
for  maintaining  and  developing  which,  his  disciple 
Amyraut  afterwards  became  so  famous.  This  form  of 
doctrine  may  be  briefly  summed  up  in  the  following 
propositions  : 

'*  That  God  desires  the  happiness  of  all  men,  and  that 
no  mortal  is  excluded  by  a)iij  divine  decree,  from  the 
benefits  that  are  procured  by  the  death,  sufferings,  and 
Gospel  of  Christ : 

"  That,  however,  none  can  be  made  a  partaker  of  the 
blessings  of  the  Gospel,  and  of  eternal  salvation,  unless 
he  believe  in  Jesus  Christ : 

"  That,  such,  indeed,  is  the  immense  and  universal 
goodness  of  the  Supreuie  Being,   that  He  refuses  to  none 


408  CAMERON. 

the  power  of  believing ;  though  He  does  not  grant  unto  all 
His  assistance  and  succour,  that  they  may  wisely  improve 
this  power  to  the  attainment  of  everlasting  salvation  : 

"  And  that,  in  consequence  of  this,  multitudes  perish 
through  their  own  fault,  and  not  from  any  want  of  good- 
ness in  God." 

Those  who  embraced  this  doctrine  were  called  Univer- 
salists,  because  they  represented  God  as  willing  to  shew 
mercy  to  all  mankind ;  and  Hypothetical  Univer  salists, 
because  the  condition  of  faith  in  Christ  was  necessary  to 
render  them  the  objects  of  this  mercy. 

His  works  are — 1.  Theological  Lectures,  3  vols,  4to ; 
and  also  in  folio.  2.  Myrothecium  Evangelicum,  4to. — 
Bayle.    Mosheim.    Cajjellus. 

CAMERON,  RICHARD. 

RrcHARD  Cameron  was  born  at  Falkland,  in  the 
shire  of  Fife.  His  father  was  a  shopkeeper,  and  he 
himself  became  a  schoolmaster,  and  precentor  to  the 
curate  of  Falkland.  Although  he  was  educated  in  right 
principles,  he  "  got  a  lively  discovery  of  the  sin  and 
hazard  of  prelacy,"  and  was  seduced  into  Presbyterianism 
and  carried  out  Presbyterian  principles  to  their  extreme. 
His  perversion  procured  him  preferment,  and  the  quondam 
parish  schoolmaster  was  admitted  into  the  family  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  of  Hai'den,  as  chaplain  and  tutor.  But  here 
he  "  discovered  the  sinfulness  of  the  indulgence,"  and 
quitting  his  situation,  because  he  would  not  attend  the 
legalized  Presbyterian  meeting-house,  he  went  south,  and 
connected  himself  with  a  field  preacher,  John  Welsh  by 
name.  He  was  unwilling  to  act  on  the  suggestion  of 
Welsh,  and  take  out  from  him  a  license  to  preach,  because, 
"  on  account  of  his  having  such  clear  discoveries  of  the 
sinfulness  of  the  indulgence,  he  could  not  but  testify 
against  it  explicitly,  so  soon  as  he  should  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  preach  in  public."  The  indulgence  was  a 
toleration  which  was  intended  by  government  to  conciliate 


CAMERON.  409 

the  Presbyterians,  by  legalizing  their  ministrations  under 
certain  conditions.  Of  the  Presbyterian  preachers  who 
accepted  the  conditions,  and  were  indulged,  Cameron  was 
most  vehement  in  his  denunciations.  With  Welsh  and 
Kidd  he  perambulated  the  Western  Counties,  accom- 
panied by  bands  of  armed  men,  who  acted  in  the  capacity 
of  guards,  and  kept  the  peaceably  disposed  inhabitants  in 
constant  fear,  committing  many  crimes.  For  railing 
against  the  indulged  ministers,  he  was  summoned  before 
presbyteries  at  Dinugh  in  Galloway,  and  Dunscove  in 
Xithsdale ;  and  at  last  he  was  persuaded  to  give  his 
promise,  that  "for  some  short  time  he  should  forbear  such 
an  explicit  way  of  preaching  against  the  indulgence  and 
separation  from  them  that  were  indulged."  "  After  the 
giving  of  the  promise,"  continues  the  author  of  the  Scots 
Worthies,  "  finding  himself  by  virtue  thereof  bound  up 
from  declaring  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  he  turned  a 
little  melancholy ;  and  to  get  a  definite  time  for  that 
unhappy  promise  exhausted,  in  the  year  1678  he  went 
over  to  Holland."  Others  say  he  went  in  consequence  of 
a  proclamation  against  his  armed  assemblages.  His 
reception  in  Holland  was  not  very  flattering  at  first,  the 
Presbyterians  there  being  "  sadly  misinformed  by  the 
indulged,  and  those  of  their  persuasion,  that  he  would 
preach  nothing  but  babble  against  the  indulgence,  cess- 
paying,  &c.  But  here  he  touched  upon  none  of  these 
things,  excejjt  in  jwayer,  when  lamenting  over  the  deplor- 
able case  of  Scotland  by  means  of  defection  and  tyranny  !" 
"  In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1680,"  to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  his  biographer,  "  he  retui-ned  home  to  Scotland, 
where  he  spent  some  time  in  going  from  minister  to  minis^ 
ter,  of  those  who  formerly  kept  up  the  public  standard 
of  the  Gospel  in  the  fields ;  but  all  in  vain  :  for  the  perse- 
cution being  then  so  hot  after  Bothwell,  against  all  such 
who  had  not  accepted  the  indulgence  and  indemnity, 
none  of  them  would  adventure  upon  that  hazard,  except 
Mr.  Donald  Cargill  and  Mr.  Thomas  Douglas,  who  came 
together,   and  kept  a  public  fast-day  in   Darmeid-muir, 


410  CAMERON. 

betwixt  Clydesdale  and  Lothian ;  one  of  the  chief  causes  of 
which  was  the  rece2;)tion  of  the  Duke  of  York  (that  sworn 
vassal  of  Antichrist)  unto   Scotland,   after  he  had  been 
excluded  from  England  and  several  other  places.     After 
several  meetings  among  themselves,  for  forming  a  declara- 
tion and  testimony,  which  they  were  about  to  publish  to 
the  world,  at  last  they  agreed  upon  one,  which  they  pub- 
lished at  the  market-cross  of  Sanquhar,  June  22,  1680, 
from   which  place  it  is  commonly  called   the  Sanquhar 
declaration.     After  this  they  were  obliged,  for  some  time, 
to  separate  one  from  another,   and  go  to  different  corners 
of  the  land ;   and  that  not  only  upon  the  account  of  the 
urgent  call  and  necessity  of  the  people,  who  were  then  in 
a  most  starving  condition,   with  respect  to  the  free  and 
faithful  preached  Gospel,  but  also  on  account  of  the  inde- 
fatigable scrutiny  of  the  enemy,  who,  for  their  better  en- 
couragement, had,  by  proclamation,  5000  merks  offered  for 
apprehending  Mr.   Cameron,   3000  for  Mr.    Cargill  and 
Mr.  Douglas,  and  100  for  each  of  the  rest,   who  were  con- 
cerned in  the  publication  of  the  foresaid  declaration." 

According  to  the  Presbyterian  writers  this  miserable 
man  was  gifted  with  the  power  of  prophecies,  and  his 
shrewd  guesses  at  probable  events  are  recorded  as  predic- 
tions :  they  also,  with  terrible  blasphemy,  narrate  miracles 
which  were  wrought  in  vengeance  upon  his  opponents. 
His  life  is  given  as  that  of  a  saint  in  "The  Biographia 
Scotiana,"  or  "  Scots  Worthies ;"  the  reader  shall  have  the 
account  of  Cameron's  last  scene  in  the  words  of  the  writer 
of  that  work. 

"  The  last  night  of  his  life,  he  was  in  the  house  of 
William  Mitchell,  of  Meadowhead,  at  the  water  of  Ayr, 
where  about  twenty-three  horse  and  forty  foot  had  continued 
with  him  that  week.  That  morning  a  woman  gave  him 
water  to  wash  his  face  and  hands ;  and  having  washed 
and  dried  them  with  a  towel,  he  looked  to  his  hands,  and 
laid  them  on  his  face,  saying,  '  This  is  their  last  washing, 
I  have  need  to  make  them  clean,  for  there  are  many  to 
see  them.'     At  this  the  womap's  mother  wept.     H^  said, 


CAMERON.  411 

*  Weep  not  for  me,  but  for  yourself  and  yours,  and  for  the 
sins  of  a  sinful  land,  for  ye  have  many  melancholy,  sor- 
rowful, and  weary  days  before  you.' 

"  The  people  who  remained  with  him  were  in  some 
hesitation  whether  they  should  abide  together  for  their 
own  defence,  or  disperse  and  shift  for  themselves.     But 
that  day,  being  the  22nd  of  July,  they  were  surprised  by 
Bruce  of  Earlshall ;  who,  having  got  command  of  Airley's 
troop  and  Strachan's  dragoons,  upon  notice  given  him  by 
Sir  John  Cochrane  of  Ochiltree,  came  furiously  upon  them, 
about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  lying  (m  the  east 
end  of  the  Airs-moss.     When  they  saw  the  enemy  ap- 
proaching and  no  possibility  of  escaping,  they  all  gathered 
round  him,  while  he  prayed  a  short  word  ;   wherein  he  re- 
peated this  expression  thrice  over,  '  Lord,  spare  the  green, 
and  take  the  ripe.'     When  ended,  he  said  to  his  brother, 
with  great  intrepidity,   '  Come  let  us  fight  it  out  to  the 
last ;  for  this  is  the  day  that  I  have  longed  for,  and  the 
day  that  I  have  prayed  for,   to  die   fighting  against  our 
Lord's  avowed  enemies,   this  is  the  day  that  we  wdll  get 
the  crown. '     And  to  the  rest  he  said,   '  Be  encouraged  all 
of  you  to  fight  it  out  valiantly,  for  all  of  you  that  shall  fall 
this  day,  I  see  heaven's  gates  open  to  receive  you.' " 

"  But  the  enemy  approaching,  they  immediately  drew  up 
eight  horse,  with  him  on  the  right,  the  rest,  with  valiant 
Hackston  on  the  left,  and  the  foot  in  the  middle,  where 
they  all  behaved  with  much  bravery,  until  overpowered 
by  a  superior  number.  At  last  Hackston  was  taken  pri- 
soner, and  Mr  Cameron  was  killed  on  the  spot,  and  his 
head  and  hands  cut  off  by  one  Murray,  and  taken  to 
Edinburgh." 

Some  few  letters  of  his  are  published  with  Mr.  Benwick's 
collection  of  letters.  Some  of  his  sermons  have  also  been 
published.  The  spirit  of  this  Covenanter  may  be  under- 
stood from  the  following  anecdote.  The  narrator  is  Smith, 
who  says,  "  I  went  with  Bichard  Cameron,  and  about 
twenty  men,  to  the  widow  lady  Gilkerscleugh's,  in  Clydes- 
dale, staid  a  week,  and  kept  several  conventicles  with  her. 


412  CAMPBELL. 

About  this  time  the  Duke  [of  York]  was  come  to  Scotland, 
and  whilst  we  were  in  this  house,  it  was  one  night  at 
supper  proposed  by  Hackston  [one  of  the  primate's  mur- 
derers], to  kill  his  Roval  Highness,  the  said  ladj  being 
present,  together  with  the  two  Camerons.  Hackston  said 
he  would  do  it  himself,  if  he  could  come  at  him  ;  and 
thought  it  might  be  best  done  when  the  Duke  was  at 
dinner  :  whereupon  he  asked  if  there  were  any  there  who 
■would  go  and  observe  all  the  manner  of  his  Royal  High- 
nesses dining  ? — whether  people  might  get  into  the  room 
to  see  him  at  dinner,  &c?  So  Michael  Cameron  under- 
took it ;  and  took  me  along  with  him.  We  were  particu- 
larly instructed  to  observe  whether  people  could  go  in 
with  large  coats  or  cloaks  on  them,  and  women  with 
plaids  ;  and  whether  they  could  pass  the  sentinels  with 
their  swords."  These  men  went  and  gained  admission 
into  the  apartment,  and  saw  the  Duke  at  dinner ;  but  as 
they  were  returning  to  their  lodgings  they  met  a  person 
who  recognized  Cameron,  whereupon  they  betook  them- 
selves to  their  horses,  and  were  pursued  for  several  miles." 
— Scots  Worthies.  Lawson's  Eccles.  Hist.  Stephens  Eccles. 
Hist. 

CAMPBELL,    ARCHIBALD. 

Archibald  Campbell.  Of  the  early  life  of  this  prelate 
nothing  more  is  known  than  that  he  was  of  the  family  of 
Argyle,  and  before  his  consecration  resided  almost  con- 
stantly in  London.  He  was  selected  by  the  Scottish 
Church  to  carry  down  the  episcopal  succession,  and  was 
consecrated  at  Dundee,  August  '2ith,  1711,  by  Bishops 
Rose,  Douglas,  and  Falconer.  On  the  21st  May,  1721, 
the  clergy  of  Aberdeen  elected  him  to  be  their  ordinary  ; 
but  he  did  not  long  continue  to  discharge  his  episcopal 
functions  in  that  see,  owing  to  some  dififerences  of  opinion 
respecting  the  "  usages,"  which  then  agitated  the  Church 
in  Scotland  and  the  Non-jurors  in  England.  He  therefore 
resigned  his  office  as  ordinary  of  Aberdeen,  and  returned 
to  London  in  1724.     Mr.  Skinner  informs  us,  that  "he 


CAMPBELL.  413 

was  highly  commendable  for  his  learning  and  other  valua- 
ble accomplishments,  which  his  curious  writings,  though 
out  of  the  common  line  in  some  things,  abundantly  testify. 
His  affairs  led  him  to  reside  mostly  at  London,  where  he 
long  acted  as  a  Scottish  Bishop,  and  in  that  character  was 
of  great  service  to  our  Church ;  having  been  among  the 
first  projectors,  and,  by  his  activity  and  connexions,  a 
constant  promoter  of  that  charitable  fund  which  was  a 
great  support  to  the  poorer  clergy  in  their  straitened 
circumstances.  He  had  got  into  his  hands  the  original 
registers  of  the  General  Assemblies,  produced  by  Warriston 
in  the  rebellious  assembly  of  Glasgow  in  the  year  1638  ; 
which  he  generously  communicated  to  such  of  his  brethren 
as  had  any  use  to  make  of  them;  and  at  last,  in  1737, 
made  a  gift  of  them  to  Sion  College  for  presers'ation.  In 
his  latter  days,  he  carried  his  singularities  to  such  a 
length  as  to  form  a  separate  Nonjuring  communion  in 
England,  distinct  from  the  Sancroftian  line ;  and  even 
ventured,  in  contradiction  to  the  advice  and  opinion  of 
his  brethren  in  Scotland,  upon  the  extraordinary  step  of 
a  single  consecration  by  himself,  without  any  assistant, 
for  keeping  up  the  separation  which,  through  Mr.  Law- 
rence, Mr.  Deacon,  and  some  others,  subsists  in  some  of 
the  western  parts  of  England  to  this  day."  Bishop 
Campbell  published  a  work  on  the  Doctrine  of  the  Middle 
or  Intermediate  State  of  Departed  Souls.  This  work  was 
published  in  1713  anonymously,  although  the  author  was 
well  known.  After  the  subject  had  been  well  discussed, 
Bishop  Campbell  published  another  edition,  greatly  en- 
larged, from  an  octavo  to  a  folio,  with  his  name  in  the 
title  page.  This  was  published  in  1721 ;  and  certain 
other  treatises  were  appended,  on  the  same  and  kindred 
subjects.  The  title  itself  is  exceedingly  cuiious.  "  The 
Doctrine  of  a  Middle  State  between  Death  and  the  Eesur- 
rection :  of  Prayers  for  the  Dead  :  and  the  Necessity  of 
Purification  :  plainly  proved  from  the  Holy  Scriptures : 
and  the  Writings  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Primitive 
Church :    and  acknowledged  by  several  learned  Fathers 

VOL.    III.  2  N 


414  CAMPBELL. 

and  great  Divines  of  the  Church  of  England,  and 
others,  since  the  Reformation.  To  which  is  added,  an 
Appendix  concerning  the  Descent  of  the  Soul  of  Christ 
into  Hell,  while  his  Body  lay  in  the  Grave.  Together 
with  the  judgment  of  the  Reverend  Dr.  Hickes  concerning 
this  Book,  so  far  as  relates  to  a  Middle  State,  Particular 
Judgment,  and  Prayers  for  the  Dead,  as  it  appeared  in  the 
First  Edition.  And  a  Manuscript  of  the  Right  Reverend 
Bishop  Overal,  upon  the  subject  of  a  Middle  State,  &c., 
never  before  printed.  Also  a  Preservative  against  several 
of  the  Errors  of  the  Roman  Church,  in  six  small 
Treatises.  By  the  Honourable  Archibald  Campbell,  Lon- 
don, folio,  17^1." 

The  author  argues  in  defence  of  the  following  propo- 
sitions, which  were  generally  received  by  this  section  of 
the  Nonjurors. 

"  That  there  is  an  intermediate  or  middle  state  for 
departed  souls  to  abide  in,  between  death  and  the  resur- 
rection, far  different  from  what  they  are  afterward  to  be  in, 
when  our  blessed  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shall  appear  at  His 
second  coming. 

*'  That  there  is  no  immediate  judgment  after  death. 

"  That  to  pray  and  offer  for,  and  to  commemorate,  our 
deceased  brethren,  is  not  only  lawful  and  useful,  but  also 
our  bounden  duty. 

"  That  the  intermediate  state  between  death  and  the 
resurrection  is  a  state  of  puriQcation  in  its  lower,  as  well 
as  of  fixed  joy  and  enjoyment,  in  its  higher  mansions. 

"  And  that  the  full  perfection  of  purity  and  holiness  is 
not  so  to  be  attained  in  any  mansion  of  Hades,  higher  or 
lower,  as  that  any  soul  of  mere  man  can  be  admitted  to 
enter  into  the  beatific  vision,  in  the  highest  heavens,  be- 
fore the  resurrection,  and  the  trial  by  fire,  which  it  must 
then  go  through." 

After  quoting  largely  from  the  Fathers,  Campbell  cites 
many  passages  from  English  divines  since  the  Reforma- 
tion. He  remarks  of  Smallridge  :  "  These  are  the  senti- 
ments of  a  Bishop   of  England,   who  w^as   a  thorough 


CAMPBELL.  415 

Revolutioner,  a  juror,  and  who  did  swear  to  all  who  have 
possessed  the  throne  of  England,  ever  since  the  Revolu- 
tion in  1688.  And  therefore  it  appears  that  Non-jurors 
are  not  singular  in  maintaining  these  notions." 

It  is  a  most  singular  circumstance,  that  in  a  Form  of 
Prayer  for  the  30th  of  January,  published  by  royal  autho- 
rity in  1661,  there  is  a  prayer  for  the  dead.  The  Form 
had  only  the  authority  of  the  Crown,  and  the  particular 
prayer  was  omitted  in  the  authorized  Service  in  166*2;  but 
still  it  is  remarkable  that  it  should  have  been  introduced. 
The  prayer  is  as  follows,  as  quoted  by  Campbell : 

**  And  we  beseech  Thee  to  give  us  all  grace  to  remember 
and  provide  for  our  latter  end,  by  a  careful,  studious 
imitation  of  this  Thy  blessed  saint  and  martyr,  and  all 
other  Thy  saints  and  martyrs  that  have  gone  before  us, 
that  we  may  be  made  worthy  to  receive  benefit  by  their 
prayers,  which  they  in  communion  with  Thy  Church  Ca- 
tholic offer  up  unto  Thee  for  that  part  of  it  here  militant, 
and  yet  in  fight  with  and  danger  from  the  flesh  :  that  fol- 
lowing the  blessed  steps  of  their  holy  lives  and  deaths,  we 
may  also  shew  forth  the  light  of  a  good  example  :  for  the 
glory  of  Thy  name,  the  conversion  of  our  enemies,  and  the 
improvement  of  those  generations  we  shall  shortly  leave 
behind  us,  and  with  all  those  that  have  borne  the  heat 
and  burden  of  the  day,  (Thy  servant  particularly  whose 
sufferings  and  labours  we  this  day  commemorate)  receive 
the  reward  of  our  labours,  the  harvest  of  our  hopes,  even 
the  salvation  of  our  souls ;  and  that  for  the  merits,  and 
through  the  mediation  of  Thy  Son,  our  blessed  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ." 

Campbell  quotes  a  letter  from  Grabe  to  Wagstaffe,  in 
which  is  the  following  request :  "I  pray  you  likewise  to 
pray,  whenever  you  please,  and  offer  the  most  holy  sacri- 
fice to  God,  for  the  soul  of  one  young  man  of  my  relation, 
in  Prussia,  lately  departed  this  life  :  whose  name  was 
Frederick :  and  was  pious  and  solicitous  to  save  himself 
in  this  confused  state  of  the  Church.  He  was  once  much 
inclined  to  go  to  the  Roman  Church,  but  could  not  satisfy 


416  CAMPBELL. 

his  conscience  about  some  of  their  abuses  and  errors,  and 
therefore  stayed  back.  God  have  mercy  on  him,  and 
bless  his  soul  in  peace." 

He  also  mentions,  that  Hickes  gave  him  a  prayer,  not 
long  before  his  death,  which  he  wished  to  be  offered  for  him 
after  his  departure.    It  contains  the  following  petitions  : — 

"  Do  Thou,  0  Lord,  now  look  upon  this  Thy  servant, 
whom  Thou  hast  chosen,  and  taken  from  this  into  the 
other  state. 

'*  0  Thou  lover  of  men,  forgive  him  all  his  offences, 
which  he  hath  committed  willingly  or  unwillingly  against 
Thee,  and  send  Thy  benevolent  holy  Angels  to  him,  to 
conduct  him  into  the  bosom  of  the  Patriarchs,  Prophets, 
and  Apostles,  &c." 

Bishop  Campbell  assisted  Bishop  Hickes,  the  well- 
known  deprived  Dean  of  Worcester,  and  Bishop  Falconer, 
in  the  consecration  of  Mr.  James  Gadderar,  in  the  year 
1724,  at  London,  by  the  desire  of  Bishop  Rose,  then 
acting  as  primus  Scotiae  episcopus.  About  this  period  the 
attention  of  the  Non-juring  Bishops  in  England  and  Scot- 
land was  drawn  to  an  attempt  to  form  an  union  between 
the  Greek  Church  in  Turkey  and  Ptussia,  and  the  un- 
established  Non-juring  Episcopalians  in  England  and 
Scotland.  Bishops  Campbell  and  Gadderar  acted  for 
their  brethren  in  Scotland,  and  in  conjunction  with 
Bishops  Collier,  Brett,  and  Griffin,  English  Non-jurors, 
entered  seriously  into  a  negociation  with  Arsenius,  Metro- 
politan of  Thebais  in  Egypt,  who  happened  then  to  be 
in  England,  and,  with  the  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople, 
in  Alexandria,  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  Heraclea,  Nicomedia, 
Chalcedon,  and  Thessalonica.  The  death  of  the  Czar 
Peter,  who  favoured  the  measure,  put  an  end  to  the  corres- 
pondence and  stipulations  with  which  the  minds  of  the 
prelates  on  both  sides  had  been  most  sedulously  em- 
ployed. For  a  detailed  account  of  this  transaction,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  Life  of  Brett.  Bishop  Campbell 
died  in  London,  but  in  what  year  is  not  known. — Bisliop 
Keith.     Bishop  Russell.     Lathhury. 


CAMPBELL.  417 


CAMPBELL,  GEOHGE. 


George  Campbell  was  born  at  Aberdeen,  in  1719, 
being  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Colin  Campbell,  one  of  the 
ministers  of  that  place.  From  the  grammar  school  of 
Aberdeen  he  went  to  Marischal  College,  but  afterwards 
was  articled  to  a  writer  to  the  Signet  at  Edinburgh.  In 
1741  he  relinquished  the  law  and  began  the  study  of 
divinity,  after  which  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  in 
1748  was  presented  to  the  church  of  Banchory  Ternan, 
near  Aberdeen.  After  remaining  nine  years  in  this  parish 
he  was  chosen  one  of  the  ministers  of  Aberdeen,  where, 
in  1759,  he  w^as  appointed  principal  of  Marischal  College. 
In  1763  he  published  his  Dissertation  on  Miracles  in  an- 
swer to  Hume,  for  which  he  received  the  degree  of  D.  D. 
from  King  s  College.  In  17^1  he  was  elected  professor  of 
divinity.  His  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric  appeared  in  1776  ; 
and  the  same  year  he  published  a  sermon  on  the  Ameri- 
can War,  of  which  six  thousand  copies  were  quickly  sold. 
In  1779  he  printed  an  address  to  quiet  the  apprehensions 
of  the  people,  in  regard  to  the  toleration  of  the  Roman 
Catholics.  The  last  work  which  Dr.  Campbell  published 
was  his  Translation  of  the  Gospels,  with  preliminary  Dis- 
sertations and  Notes,  2  vols,  4to,  Some  years  before  his 
death  he  resigned  his  professorship,  on  which  occasion  a 
pension  of  three  hundred  pounds  a  year  was  settled  upon 
him  by  the  King.  He  died  in  1796.  His  Lectures  on 
Ecclesiastical  History  were  published  in  1800,  2  vols.  8vo. 
with  his  Life  prefixed.  These  lectures  contain  a  decided 
attack  upon  the  Church  Catholic,  but  especially  upon  that 
branch  of  it  which  was  superseded  by  the  present  Pres- 
byterian establishment,  and  is  now  usually  denominated 
the  episcopal  Church  in  Scotland.  The  lectures  were  se- 
verely reviewed  in  the  Anti-Jacobin  Review  for  May  1801 ; 
but  they  were  especially  answered  by  the  Right  Reverend 
John  Skinner,  late  Bishop  of  Aberdeen,  and  primus 
Scotiae  episcopus,  (in  which  offices  he  has  been   worthily 


418  CAMPEGIO. 

succeeded  by  his  son,  the  present  Bishop,)  in  a  most  valu- 
able work,  entitled,  "  Primitive  Truth  and  Order  vindi- 
cated," and  by  Archdeacon  Daubeny  in  his  "  Eight  dis- 
courses," &c.  Scottish  churchmen  were  the  more  surprised 
at  this  posthumous  publication,  as  Campbell  had  in  his 
life-time  assumed  an  air  of  liberality  towards  them. — Gen. 
Dictionary.     Shinner. 


CAMPEGIO,    OB   CAMPEJUS. 

Campegio  was  born  at  Milan,  in  1474.  He  was  brought 
up  to  the  profession  of  the  civil  law,  which  he  taught  at 
Padua  and  Bologna.  After  the  death  of  his  wife  he  went 
into  holy  orders,  and  in  1510  was  appointed  auditor  of 
the  Rota,  by  Julius  II.,  and  in  1512  Bishop  of  Feltre. 
Being  afterwards,  in  1517,  created  Cardinal  by  Leo  X.,  he 
was  sent  as  Pope's  legate  into  England  in  the  following 
year.  His  chief  mission  to  the  English  court  was  to  per- 
suade Henry  VIII.  to  join  the  confederation  of  Christian 
princes  against  the  Turks,  and  to  collect  the  tenths  for 
the  purpose  of  prosecuting  the  war.  He  was  vested  also 
with  a  legatine  power  of  visiting  monasteries.  He  was 
detained  three  months  at  Calais,  having  been  desired  by 
Cardinal  Wolsey  to  wait  there  until  a  bull  was  procured  from 
Rome,  that  he  might  be  included  in  the  commission.  Upon 
his  arrival  in  England  he  was  received  with  great  pomp, 
being  met  at  Blackheath  by  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  a 
great  number  of  prelates,  knights,  and  gentlemen,  and 
conducted  by  them  to  a  rich  tent  of  cloth  of  gold,  where 
he  changed  his  dress  and  put  on  his  Cardinal's  robes 
edged  with  ermine,  and  thus  rode  in  much  state  to  Lon- 
don. Cardinal  Wolsey,  understanding  that  his  retinue  at 
Calais  was  meanly  clothed,  and  knowing  the  importance 
of  Campegio  making  an  appearance  in  England  suitable 
to  the  dignity  of  his  station  and  character,  had  sent  thither 
a  considerable  quantity  of  fccarlet  cloth  for  their  robes. 
And  as  the  legate  had  but  eight  mules  of  his  own,  the 


CAMPEGIO.  419 

night  before  his  entrance  into  London  he  received  a  pre- 
sent of  twelve  more  from  Wolsey.  These  were  equipped 
with  "  empty  coifers"  under  a  red  covering ;  but  one  of 
the  mules  in  Cheapside  during  the  procession,  becoming 
unruly,  put  the  others  into  such  confusion  that  several 
carriages  were  overturned,  which  breaking  in  the  fall, 
instead  of  the  rich  furniture  they  were  supposed  to  contain 
exposed  to  the  view  and  derision  of  the  people  a  collection 
of  the  most  vile  and  homely  materials. 

He  found  the  people  of  England  very  backward  in 
meeting  his  demand  of  a  tenth,  and  therefore,  having 
informed  the  Pope  of  the  fact,  he  proceeded  to  the  other 
branch  of  his  commission,  that  of  visiting  the  monasteries. 
But  Wolsey  thinking  himself  capable  of  discharging  this 
office  without  an  associate,  sent  Dr.  Clarke  to  Rome  with 
a  request,  that  the  whole  power  in  this  article  might 
be  transferred  to  himself.  -His  request  being  granted, 
Campegio  was  recalled.  Campegio  so  ingratiated  himself 
with  the  higher  powers  that  he  obtained  the  bishopric  of 
Salisbury.  The  fact  that  this  important  bishopric  was 
conferred  on  a  non-resident,  foreign  pluralist,  shews  how 
much  our  establishment  needed  reformation. 

In  15 -24  he  was  made  Bishop  of  Bologna  by  Clement 
VII.,  and  was  sent  to  the  Diet  of  Nuremberg  to  oppose 
the  progress  of  Lutheranism.  When  the  controversy 
respecting  Henry's  divorce  began,  in  1527,  Cardinal  Cam- 
pegio was  sent  a  second  time  into  England,  to  call  a  lega- 
tine  court,  in  which  he  and  his  colleague,  Cardinal  Wolsey, 
were  to  sit  as  judges.  He  arrived  in  England  at  the  end 
of  the  year  1528,  but  being  troubled  with  the  gout  he  did 
not  make  a  public  entry  into  London,  although  the  King 
was  desirous  of  giving  him  a  splendid  reception.  After 
a  repose  of  a  few  days,  he  had  an  audience  of  the  King, 
and  was  favourably  received.  Godwyn  represents  him  as 
a  plain-spoken  man,  who  told  the  King  precisely  what  he 
thought.  The  Iving  and  Queen  did  actually  appear  be- 
fore him  and  Wolsey,  sitting  as  judges  in  their  cause  at 
Bridewell  in  Blackfriars.     The  commission  being  opened. 


420  CAMPEGIO. 

the  cryer  summoned  King  Henry  of  England,  whereunto 
the  King  answered  and  said,  Here.  Then  he  called  the 
Queen  by  name  of  Catherine,  Queen  of  England,  come  into 
the  court,  when  without  answer  she  rose,  and  going  round 
about  the  court  knelt  at  the  feet  of  the  lung,  and  addressed 
to  him  her  well  known  and  pathetic  appeal,  in  broken 
English. 

The  first  session  took  place  May  31st,  1529,  and 
the  trial  lasted  until  July  23rd,  when,  upon  Queen 
Catherine  appealing  to  the  Pope,  the  court  adjourned 
until  September  28th,  and  was  then  dissolved.  Hume 
represents  Campegio's  conduct,  in  the  matter  of  the 
divorce,  as  prudent  and  temperate,  although  somewhat 
ambiguous.  It  is  said  that  Henry  vainly  endeavoured 
to  draw  him  over  to  his  views  by  the  offer  of  the 
bishopric  of  Durham.  Afterwards  Campegio  was  re- 
called to  Eome,  the  King  making  him  considerable  pre- 
sents upon  his  departure ;  but  a  rumour  being  spread 
that  he  carried  along  with  him  a  treasure  belonging  to 
Cardinal  Wolsey,  whose  downfall  was  at  this  time  con- 
trived, and  who,  it  was  suspected,  intended  to  follow  him 
to  Piome,  he  was  pursued  by  the  King's  orders,  and  over- 
taken at  Calais.  His  baggage  was  searched,  but  nothing 
being  found  of  the  kind  suspected,  he  complained  loudly 
of  this  violation  of  his  sacred  character.  But  he  was  re- 
minded by  the  King  that  by  the  laws  of  England  he  had 
no  right  to  assume  the  legatine  character  after  having 
been  made  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  and  that  as  a  prelate  of 
the  Church  of  England  he  was  bound  by  oath  to  defend 
the  royal  prerogative.  The  King  eventually  deprived  him 
of  the  see  of  Salisbury.  He  died  at  Rome,  in  August, 
1539,  bearing  the  character  of  a  man  of  learning,  and  a 
patron  of  learned  men,  and  was  much  esteemed  by 
Erasmus,  Sadolet,  and  other  eminent  men  of  that  time. 
His  letters  only  remain,  which  contain  many  historical 
particulars,  and  were  published  in  Epistolarum  Miscella- 
nearum,  libri  decem,  Basil,  1550,  folio. — Fidde's  Life  of 
Wolsey.  Dod.    Collier.     Godwyn. 


CAMPIAN.  421 

CAMPIAN,    OR   CAMPION. 

CamPIan  was  born  in  London,  January  25,  1540,  and 
was  educated  at  Christ's  Hospital.  He  probably  distin- 
guished himself  at  school,  as  he  was  selected  to  make  an 
oration  before  Queen  Mary  on  her  accession  to  the  crown. 
He  was  appointed  scholar  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford, 
by  its  founder  Sir  Thomas  White,  and  took  his  master's 
degree  in  1564.  In  1566,  when  Queen  Elizabeth  was 
entertained  at  Oxford,  he  made  an  oration  before  her,  and 
also  kept  an  act  in  St.  Mary's  Church.  He  was  not  only 
a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  but  so  zealous  in 
the  defence  of  the  principles  upon  which  that  Church  was 
reformed,  that  he  received  liberal  presents  from  church- 
men to  assist  him  in  his  studies,  and  was  ordained  deacon 
by  Cheney,  Bishop  of  Gloucester.  From  this  prelate  he 
experienced  many  favours -and  much  kindness,  which  he 
repaid  by  reviling  him,  and  by  a  degree  of  insolence  which 
ill  became  his  years  and  relative  position,  when,  on  his 
perversion  to  the  Church  of  Kome,  he  spoke  of  his  ordina- 
tion, as  receiving  the  mark  of  the  beast.  Campian  was, 
nevertheless,  though  a  conceited  and  self-sufficient,  yet  a 
mild  and  good  natured  man,  with  shewy  talents. 

In  1568  he  went  to  Ireland,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
writing  a  history  of  that  country,  in  two  books.  Having 
embraced  the  Romish  additions  to  the  Catholic  faith  in 
1569,  he  did  not  formally  announce  the  fact  till  the  fol- 
lowing year.  He  then  found  it  expedient  to  return  to 
England ;  but  in  1571  he  removed  into  the  Low  Countries, 
and  afterwards  settled  at  the  English  College  of  Jesuits  at 
Douay,  where  he  openly  renounced  the  Protestant  religion, 
and  had  the  degree  of  B.D.  conferred  upon  him.  From 
thence  he  went  to  Rome,  where  he  was  admitted  into  the 
society  of  Jesuits  in  1573;  and  was  afterwards  sent  by  the 
general  of  his  order  into  Germany.  He  lived  for  some 
time  in  Brune,  and  then  at  Vienna,  where  he  com- 
posed a  tragedy,  called  Nectar  and  Ambrosia,  which  was 

VOL.  III.  2  o 


4-2 -2  CAMPIAX. 

acted  before  the  Emperor  with  great  applause.  Soon  after 
he  settled  at  Prague,  and  taught  rhetoric  and  philosophy 
for  about  six  years  in  a  College  of  Jesuits,  which  had  been 
newly  erected  there.  At  length,  being  summoned  to  Rome, 
he  was  sent  with  the  notorious  Parsons,  at  the  instance  of 
Dr.  Allen,  by  Pope  Gregory  XIII,,  to  England. 

On  the  Sunday  after  Easter,  Gregory  gave  his  blessing 
to  the  missionaries,  and  they  left  Rome,  with  instructions 
from  their  general,  Mercuriano,  to  keep  entirely  clear  of 
politics.  They  were  to  pass  through  Rheims,  Paris,  and 
Douay.  On  the  French  coast,  Parsons  and  Campian 
separated.  The  latter  landed  at  Dover  early  on  the 
morning  of  June  25,  1580.  Parsons  trode  again  his 
native  soil,  at  some  other  point.  Campian  was  no  sooner 
on  shore,  than  he  had  to  attend  the  local  magistrate,  who 
charged  him  with  being  a  fugitive  English  Romanist, 
returning  under  a  feigned  name  to  propagate  his  religion. 
Had  he  gone  no  farther,  the  missionary  would,  probably, 
have  been  unable  to  lull  suspicion,  but  he  insisted  that 
no  other  than  iVllen  stood  before  him.  Not  even  the 
slightest  appearance  of  art  was  required  in  rebutting  this 
charge,  and  Campian  offered,  at  once,  to  deny  it  upon 
oath.  Still  the  magistrate  kept  saying,  to  his  very  great 
alarm,  that  he  must  be  sent  in  custody  to  the  council, 
and,  seemingly,  with  such  a  view  he  left  the  room.  During 
his  absence,  the  Jesuit  became  absorbed  in  mental  prayer, 
not  forgetting  to  intermingle  with  rational,  natural,  and 
becoming  addresses  to  Omniscience,  others  to  the  Baptist. 
He  was  delighted,  no  less  than  surprised,  on  the  old  man's 
return,  to  hear  him  say,  "  You  may  go.  Farewell."  Of 
this  unexpected  permission,  instant  and  effective  advan- 
tage was  taken,  and  Campian  was  not  long  in  reaching 
London.  He  necessarily  moved  about  in  disguise,  but 
his  party  soon  became  extensively  aware  of  his  return  to 
England.  Some  young  men  of  fortune  instantly  supplied 
him  with  clothes,  and  every  thing  that  he  could  want. 
He    now   found  himself  almost   overwhelmed  with  pro- 


CAMPIAN.  4-23 

fessional  avocations,  obliged  even  to  think  of  his  sermons 
as  he  rode  on  horseback  from  house  to  house,  in  the 
neighbouring  countiy. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  Campian  in  England,  a  royal 
proclamation  was  issued  ;  according  to  the  terms  of  which, 
all  people  having  children,  wards,  or  others  under  their 
controul,  or  receiving  pecuniary  assistance  from  them,  in 
any  foreign  country,  were  to  return  the  names  of  such 
individuals  to  the  ordinary,  within  ten  days,  and  to  take 
measures  for  recalling  them  within  four  months.  All 
persons  receiving,  sustaining,  cherishing,  or  relieving 
Jesuits,  Seminarists,  Massifying-priests,  or  any  such,  that 
have  come,  or  may  hereafter  come  from  abroad ;  or  not  dis- 
covering such,  if  known,  or  probably  suspected,  were  to  be 
treated  as  sustainers,  favourers,  and  patrons  of  rebellious 
and  seditious  men.  New  measures  of  coercion  were  pro- 
posed to  parliament ;  reconcilements  to  Eome  were  made 
high  treason  in  the  dispenser,  misprision  of  treason  in 
the  receiver.  The  saying  of  mass  was  made  punishable, 
by  a  fine  of  200  marks,  and  one  year's  imprisonment ; 
the  hearing  of  it  by  half  the  fine,  but  the  same  term  of 
imprisonment.  Absence  from  church  was  to  be  finable 
£20  a  month,  and  if  continued  through  a  year,  two  securi- 
ties in  £200  each,  might  be  demanded  for  the  party's 
good  behaviour.  To  prevent  the  harbouring  of  papal 
agents  under  colour  of  tuition,  schoolmasters,  unlicensed 
by  the  ordinary,  were  made  liable  to  a  year's  imprison- 
ment, and  persons  employing  them  to  a  fine  of  £10  a 
month. 

Parsons  and  Campian  were  nothing  daunted ;  they 
prepared  formal  answers  to  the  Queen's  proclamation. 
That  of  Parsons  is  lost,  but  Campian's  has  been  pre- 
served. It  positively  disclaims  every  political  object,  but 
announces  that  the  Jesuits  had  made  a  holy  league  to  root 
Ptomanism-,  in  England,  at  all  hazards.  Prisons,  racks, 
and  gibbets  are  treated  with  scorn,  sufficient  victims 
being  prepared  to  answer  all  their  demands,  and  a  new 


424  CAMPIAN. 

succession  being  certain  to  repair  every  devastation  that 
such  barbarities  might  cause.  A  copy  of  this  document 
v^as  entrusted  to  Thomas  Pound,  a  zealous  Romanist  of 
good  family,  ^Yho  was  himself  a  Jesuit.  He  had  injunc- 
tions to  suppress  it  so  loug  as  the  writer  should  remain 
at  large,  but  in  case  of  his  apprehension,  to  print  and 
circulate  it.  The  original  Campian  retained.  Pound, 
■who  is  represented  as  panting  for  Tyburn,  seems  to  have 
been  fired  by  such  a  display  of  rhetoric,  zeal,  and  hero- 
ism, that  he  printed  it  immediately,  and  it  was  neither 
long  in  getting  wind,  nor  eliciting  replies  :  Hammer  and 
Charke  having  instantly  attacked  it.  Among  its  contents 
was  a  desire  to  argue  the  Romish  cause  before  the  council, 
a  select  body  of  divines,  and  another  of  civilians. 

That  he  might  secure  some  such  notice  for  his  opinions, 
under  any  circumstances,  Campian  produced,  in  the  next 
year,  his  Ten  Reasons,  addressed  to  the  most  learned 
academicians  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  This  tract,  which 
is  elegantly  written,  but  floridly,  arrogantly,  and  super- 
ficially, was  extensively  circulated  by  means  of  William 
Hartley,  once,  like  the  writer,  fellow  of  St.  John's  College, 
Oxford,  now  like  him  also,  a  Romish  missionary.  Among 
his  own  party,  and  among  all  such  as  are  easily  smitten 
by  the  charms  of  composition,  Campian's  flowers  passed 
at  once  for  fruit.  William  Whitaker,  however,  the 
learned  regius  professor  of  divinity  at  Cambridge,  was  not 
slow  in  taking  up  the  gauntlet,  so  confidently  thrown 
down,  and  many  sufficient  judges,  with  great  reason, 
pronounced  his  answer  complete.  In  some  points,  indeed, 
he  had  a  task  needlessly  easy,  the  Jesuitic  challenger 
having  found  Scripture  for  his  purposes,  in  the  Apocrypha, 
and  Fathers,  in  pieces  even  then  known  to  be  suppositious. 
But  Whitaker  was  not  allowed  an  undisputed  victory. 
Before  the  year  closed,  John  Durey,  a  scholarly  Scottish 
Jesuit,  published  at  Ingoldstadt,  a  Confutation  of  his 
Answer.  The  Romish  party  laid,  indeed,  very  great  stress 
upon  Campian's  challenges.  That  unfortunate  scholar 
himself  fancied  that  his  boldness  had  rendered  the  Pro- 


CAMPIAN.  425 

testants  furious  ;  and  he  still  is  thought  not  greatly  mis- 
taken. 

The  desire  on  the  part  of  Government  to  apprehend 
Campian  and  his  brother  Jesuit,  was  augmented  by  the 
popular  clamour  against  Queen  Elizabeth's  encourage- 
ment of  the  Duke  of  Anjou's  matrimonial  aims.  Peo- 
ple thought  their  Queen  fascinated  by  this  gay  young 
Frenchman,  and  that  through  his  influence,  in  the  words 
of  Cambden,  "  religion  would  be  altered,  and  popery 
tolerated."  Every  report  of  Campian 's  challenges  was 
taken  as  a  confirmation  of  these  gloomy  forebodings.  It 
is  terrible  to  think  that,  for  the  mere  purpose  of  \^ndi- 
cating  the  Queen  from  such  a  suspicion,  it  was  determined 
to  institute  an  active  search  for  Campian,  and  to  destroy 
him.  Whatever  were  the  faults,  and  they  were  many,  of 
the  young  Jesuit,  he  was  labouring  in  what  he  considered 
to  be  the  path  of  duty.  But  he  was  to  die  in  order  to 
allay  the  fears  of  the  people,  which  would  have  been  more 
effectually  allayed  by  the  mere  cessation  of  a  flirtation  on 
the  part  of  the  Queen. 

On  the  15th  of  July,  1581,  he  was  apprehended  in  the 
secret  room  of  a  Roman  Catholic  gentleman  at  Lyfford, 
in  Berkshire,  eight  miles  from  Oxford.  After  remaining 
during  two  days  in  the  custody  of  the  sheriff  of  Berkshire, 
he  was  conveyed  by  slow  journeys  to  London,  on  horse- 
back ;  his  legs  fastened  under  the  horse,  his  arms  tied 
behind  him,  and  a  paper  placed  on  his  hat,  on  which,  in 
large  capital  letters,  were  written  the  words,  "  Campian, 
the  seditious  Jesuit."  On  the  ^5th  he  was  delivered  to 
the  lieutenant  of  the  Tower.  He  was  frequently  examined 
before  the  Lord  Chancellor,  or  other  members  of  the 
council,  and  by  commissioners  appointed  by  them.  He 
was  required  to  divulge  what  houses  he  had  frequented  ; 
by  whom  he  had  been  relieved  ;  whom  he  had  reconciled  ; 
when,  which  way,  for  what  purpose,  and  by  what  com- 
mission he  had  come  into  the  realm ;   how,  where,  and 

by  whom  he  printed  his  books.     All  these  questions  he 

2o  '2 


426  CAMPIAN. 

declined  to  answer.  In  order,  therefore,  to  extort  answers 
from  him,  he  was  first  laid  on  the  rack,  and  his  limbs 
stretched  a  little,  to  show  him,  as  the  executioners  termed 
it,  what  the  rack  was.  He  persisted  in  his  refusal ; — 
then,  for  several  days  successively,  the  torture  was  in- 
creased ;  and,  on  the  two  last  occasions,  he  was  so  cruelly 
torn  and  rent  that  he  expected  to  have  expired  under  the 
torment.  Whilst  upon  the  rack  he  called  continually 
upon  God  ;  and  prayed  fervently  for  his  tormentors,  and 
for  those  by  whose  orders  they  acted. 

Before  he  was  finally  released  from  the  torture,  his 
persecutors  succeeded  in  wresting  from  him  various  par- 
ticulars, though  Campian  on  the  scaffold  declared  that  the 
information  extracted  in  this  infamous  way  was  given 
under  an  engagement  upon  oath,  that  his  "  harbourers" 
should  not  be  molested.  It  is,  however,  certain  that 
many  of  them  were  molested.  Some  were  fined  and 
imprisoned.  The  unhappy  victim  bitterly  regretted  his 
weakness  in  these  disclosures. 

It  is  very  distressing  to  observe  the  cruel  spirit  of 
Puritanism  or  ultra-Protestantism,  when  even  declaiming 
against  the  persecuting  spirit  of  Popery;  the  following 
are  the  remarks  of  a  contemporary  Puritan,  one  who  was 
esteemed  "  the  first  among  the  godly,  and  one  of  the 
decidedly  pious,"  William  Charke  : 

"  In  very  truth,  there  was  no  one  of  them  so  racked, 
but  that,  howsoever  their  minds  seemed  to  yield  to  the 
fear  of  pain,  they  were  yet  worse  afraid  than  hurt.  For 
the  very  next  Sabbath  day,  though  to  the  churchward  they 
must  be  drawn,  or  driven,  or  carried,  between  two  men, 
like  obstinate  bears  to  a  stake ;  yet  could  they  after  the 
sermon,  walk  home  upon  their  own  legs  stoutly  enough 
and  strongly,  as  other  folks.  This  is  indeed  to  strain  at 
a  gnat,  and  to  swallow  up  a  camel,  to  complain  of  justice 
mercifully  and  necessarily  used  to  two  or  three,  and  your- 
selves with  all  horrible  torments  to  destroy  great  cities, 
and  attempt  the  desolation  of  whole  kingdoms." 


CAjMPIAN.  427 

It  was  thought  fit  that  Campian  should  be  racked  in 
mind  as  well  as  body,  and  on  the  last  day  of  August  he 
was  brought  into  the  chapel  of  the  Tower,  with  his  fellow- 
prisoners,  to  meet  Alexander  Nowell,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's, 
and  William  Day,   Dean  of  Windsor,   who   indiscreetly 
began,  as  if  to  recriminate  under  consciousness  of  cruelty, 
by  adverting  to  the  persecutions  of  the  late  reign  of  Queen 
Mary,  and  asserting,  that  none  since  had  been  executed 
for  religion.     Campian  immediately  pronounced  himself 
an  example  of  very  severe  suffering  for  religion,  having 
been  twice  on  the  rack.      The  Ten  Eeasons  then  came 
under  discussion.     The  prisoner  was  first  charged  with 
misrepresenting   Protestants   as   to  the    rejection  of   St. 
James's  Epistle,  on  Luther's  authority ;  there  being  really 
neither  such  rejection,  nor  such  authority.     To  prove  the 
latter  case,  he  was  shewn   a  printed  book,  and  could  only 
answer  that  it  was  not  tHe  right  edition.     He  was  told, 
and   no    doubt    honestly,    though    incorrectly,    that    all 
editions  here  were  alike.     Other  points  were  subsequently 
debated,   and,   as  his  opponents   thought,   very  little    to 
Campian's  advantage.     The  two  deans  were  chiefly  bent 
upon  discrediting  him,  or,  as  they  said,  "reclaiming  him," 
by  a  merciless   exposure  of  his  numerous  inaccuracies. 
These  they  treated  as  imputations  upon  veracity,  though 
really,    perhaps,   mere    slips  of  hasty  writing,    sanguine 
temperament,  and  superficial  information.     But  be  their 
cause  what  it  may,  such  errors  cannot  be  detected  without 
humiliating  any  man,  and  in  the  afternoon  Campian  con- 
fronted his  opponents  with  an  air  of  much  greater  modesty 
than  he  had  worn  in  the  morning.     The  topics,  too,  were 
more  manageable,  chiefly  turning  upon  justification;  and, 
as  usual  upon  such  questions,  the  disputants  were  found, 
at  length,  very  much  of  the  same  opinion.     Thus  a  colour 
was  given  for  representing  Campian  as  departing  com- 
pletely master  of  the  field  ;  and  the  two  deans  were  called 
upon  to  lower  the  strains  of  Piomish  triumph,  by  pub- 
lishing their  own  account  of  the  conference.     Three  other 
disputations    followed,    in    which   the   celebrated  Jesuit 


426  ?•  CAM  PI  AN. 


argued  with  new  opponents.  Upon  the  whole,  he  dis- 
appointed expectation,  Protestants  expressly  say  so, 
Piomanists  tacitly  admit  it,  by  dwelling  upon  the  barbarian 
tortures  that  he  had  undergone,  and  his  want  of  books. 
No  common  man  could  have  stood  his  ground,  as  he  did, 
under  such  disadvantages. 

To  such  acceptance  of  his  own  challenges  there  could 
be  no  objection.  But  it  was  disgracefully  deemed  advisable 
to  stretch  him  again  upon  the  rack.  When  overcome 
before,  under  its  atrocious  machinery,  he  seems  to  have 
let  something  fall  that  gave  hope  of  important  disclosures. 
Such  a  report,  at  least,  alarmed  his  friends  out  of  doors, 
and  in  a  letter  to  make  them  easy,  he  declared  himself  to 
have  had  no  more  extorted  from  him  than  names  of 
persons  and  places.  As  to  secrets,  in  his  intercourse  with 
individuals,  he  had  revealed  none,  nor  ever  would,  "come 
rack,  come  rope."  In  fact,  he  denied  himself  to  have 
been  entrusted  with  any,  save  the  sins  of  his  penitents, 
of  which  he  was  depositary  under  the  seal  of  confession, 
which  he  certainly  would  not  break. 

On  the  12th  of  November  Campian  and  his  companions 
were  indicted  for  high  treason.  Of  this  trial  Mr.  Hallam 
observes  :  "  Nothing  that  I  have  read  affords  the  slightest 
proof  of  Campians  concern  in  treasonable  practices, 
though  his  connections,  and  profession  as  a  Jesuit,  render 
it  by  no  means  unlikely.  If  we  may  confide  in  the 
published  trial,  the  prosecution  was  as  unfairly  conducted, 
and  supported  by  as  slender  evidence,  as  any,  perhaps, 
which  can  be  found  in  our  books.  But  as  this  account, 
wherein  Campians  language  is  full  of  a  dignified  elo- 
quence, rather  seems  to  have  been  compiled  by  a  partial 
hand,  its  faithfulness  may  not  be  above  suspicion." 

The  prisoners  were,  nevertheless,  found  guilty  by  the 
jury,  after  deliberating  for  an  hour,  and  on  the  first 
of  December  following,  Campian  was  led  to  execution.  He 
was  dragged  there  on  a  hurdle,  his  face  was  often  covered 
with  mud,  and  the  people  good-naturedly  wdped  it  off. 
He  ascended  the  scaffold,—  there,  he  again  denied  all  the 


CAMUS.  429 

treasons  of  whicli  he  had  been  accused.  He  was  required 
"  to  ask  forgiveness  of  the  Queen;"  he  meekly  answered, 
"  wherein  have  I  offended  her  ?  In  this  I  am  innocent ; 
this  is  my  last  breath,  in  this  give  me  credit.  I  have,  and 
I  do  pray  for  her."  Lord  Charles  Howard  asked  him 
"for  which  Queen  he  prayed  ? — whether  for  Elizabeth  the 
Queen?"' — Campian  replied,  "Yes,  for  Elizabeth  your 
Queen,  and  my  Queen."  He  then  took  his  last  leave  of 
the  spectators,  and  turning  his  eyes  towards  heaven,  the 
cart  was  drawn  away. 

Besides  the  works  already  mentioned,  he  wrote  : — 1. 
Nine  Articles  directed  to  the  Lords  of  the  Privy  Council, 
1581.  2.  The  History  of  Ireland,  noticed  above,  published 
by  Sir  James  Ware,  Dublin,  1638,  folio.  The  original 
MS.  is  in  the  British  Museum.  3.  Chronologia  Universalis. 
4.  Conferences  in  the  Tower,  published  by  the  English 
divines,  1583,  4to.  5.  'Narratio  de  Divortio,  Antwerp, 
1631.  6.  Orationes,  ib.  1631.  7.  Epistolae  varise,  ib. 
1631.  8.  De  Imitatione  Rhetorica,  ib.  1631.  His  Life, 
written  by  Paul  Bombino,  a  Jesuit,  is  very  scarce;  the  best 
edition  is  that  of  Mantua,  1620,  8vo. — Soanies.  Butler. 
Strijpe.    Lingard.    Challoner.  Dod.    Cambden.   Hallam. 


CAMUS,    JOHN    PETEE. 

John  Peter  Camus  was  bom  at  Paris,  in  1582.  Henry 
IV.  made  him  Bishop  of  Bellay.  In  his  time,  romances 
being  much  in  vogue,  he  set  the  fashion  of  writing  religious 
novels,  which  have  obtained  so  much  of  late.  He  was 
very  severe  on  the  monks,  who  complained  of  him  to 
Cardinal  Pdchelieu;  on  which  the  minister  said  to  Camus, 
'*  I  find  no  other  fault  with  you,  but  this  horrible  bitter- 
ness against  the  monks ;  were  it  not  for  that,  I  would 
canonize  you." — "  I  wish  that  may  come  to  pass,"  said 
the  Bishop,  "  for  then  we  should  both  have  our  wish ; 
you  would  be  a  pope,  and  I  should  be  a  saint."     In  1629 


430  CANT. 

he  resigned  his  bishopric,  aod  retired  to  the  abbey  of 
Clunj,  from  whence  he  removed  to  Paris,  and  died  in  the 
hosj)ital  of  Incurables  in  1652. — Moreri 


CANNE,    JOHN. 

Of  this  person  we  only  know  that,  being  the  compiler 
of  the  Weekly  News,  he  became,  at  the  Restoration,  a 
leader  of  the  English  Independents,  or  Brownists,  at  Am- 
sterdam. He  published  a  Bible  with  marginal  references 
or  notes,  of  which  the  first  edition  was  printed  at  Amster- 
dam, in  1664,  and  another  at  Edinburgh,  1727. —  Gen. 
Diet. 

CANT,    ANDREW. 

This  unfortunate  person  has  been  condemned  to  fame, 
by  giving  a  word  to  our  language  by  which  we  express  the 
whining  eloquence  of  a  hypocrite.  He  was  originally  a 
clergyman,  having  received  episcopal  orders.  When  the 
Presbyterians  of  Scotland  rose  in  rebellion  he  took  his 
part  with  the  rebels,  and  was  employed  by  those  rebel 
committees  who  were  distinguished  by  the  eccentric  sou- 
briquet of  the  Tables,  from  the  circumstance  of  their  con- 
ducting their  deliberations  at  four  separate  tables  in  four 
rooms  in  the  new  Parliament  House.  By  them  he  was 
employed  to  preach  the  solemn  League  and  Covenant, 
which  was  a  bond  of  rebellion  entered  into  by  the  Presby- 
terian party,  at  the  instigation  of  Cardinal  Richelieu,  who 
furnished  them  \\-ith  a  copy  of  the  French  Holy  League, 
of  which,  with  some  necessary  alterations,  it  is  a  pretty 
faithful  copy.  The  hypocritical  Presbyterians  at  the  very 
moment  that  they  were  exciting  the  ignorant  mob  to 
rebellion  by  a  pretended  fear  of  the  introduction  of  popery 
on  the  part  of  the  King,  were  themselves  imitating  that 
popery,  for  a  resemblance  to  which  they  raised  an  outcry 
against  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.     Never  was  nation 


CANT.  431 

eo  possessed  by  the  evil  spirit  as  was  Scotland  at  the  time 
of  the  anti-christian  covenanters.  But  there  was  still  a 
remnant  left,  and  Cant,  with  other  agitators,  being  sent  to 
Aberdeen,  found  that  the  doctors  of  that  city  and  univer- 
sity were  not  to  be  moved  by  their  groaning,  whining 
eloquence.  The  historian  Heron  admits,  that  "  the  train 
of  their  measures  was,"  (by  these  true-hearted  men) 
"shewn  to  be  insurrection  and  conspiracy  against  the 
King's  authority.  Their  covenant  was  proved  to  be  with- 
out obligation,  because  it  was  illegal,  and  aimed  at  ends 
incompatible  with  orderly  government.  Episcopacy  was 
shewn  to  be  founded  upon  the  maxims  of  Revelation,  the 
practice  of  the  primitive  Church,  and  the  expediency  of 
civil  society.  But  the  doctors  of  Aberdeen  found  it  more 
easy  to  confute  than  to  convince  or  silence  the  high-priests 
of  the  covenant." 

Being  refused  the  pulpits  of  Aberdeen,  Cant  and  his 
associates  preached  in  the  open  air.  He  was  sent  to  the 
general  assembly  which  met  at  Glasgow  in  1638,  and  gaye 
in  his  adhesion  to  the  rebels,  who  continued  its  sittings 
after  the  King's  commissioner  had  legally  dissolved  it.  As 
Prynne  in  England  had  blasphemously  declared  that  our 
Blessed  Lord  was  a  Puritan,  so,  \horrible  it  is  to  write  it  I) 
the  people  in  Scotland  were  taught  to  regard  Him  as  a 
covenanter.  Mr.  Cant,  in  his  sermon  at  Glasgow,  told  his 
audience,  that  he  was  "  sent  to  them  with  a  commission 
from  Christ  to  bid  them  subscribe  the  covenant,  it  being 
Christ's  contract, — that  he  came  as  a  wooer  from  the 
Bridegroom  to  call  upon  them  to  be  hand-fasted  by  sub- 
scribing the  contract,  and  that  he  would  not  depart  till  he 
had  got  the  names  of  all  refusers,  of  whom  he  would  com- 
plain to  his  Master." 

Cant  acted  as  chaplain  to  the  rebel  army  under  General 
Leslie ;  and  with  the  usual  hypocrisy  of  Puritans,  who 
complained  of  the  secular  employment  of  the  Bishops, 
took  his  share  in  the  military  councils.  He  was  one  of 
the  Scotch  preachers  who  were  appointed  by  General 
Leslie   to    preach   at    Newcastle,   when    the    rebels    took 


432  CANUS. 

military  possession  of  that  town,  in  1640.  Soon  after  the 
dominant  Presbyterians  intruded  him  upon  the  reluctant 
inhabitants  of  Aberdeen  as  one  of  their  ministers,  in  order 
to  seduce  the  inhabitants  from  their  loyalty  to  the  King, 
and  steady  attachment  to  the  Church.  On  the  21st  of 
August,  1641,  he  preached  before  Charles  I. ;  and  he 
attended  annually  the  general  assembly,  and  frequently 
preached  before  the  conventions  of  estates.  He  joined 
the  Presbyterian  party,  who  were  called  Protestors,  or 
Remonstrators,  and  was  vehement  in  his  opposition  to 
that  temporary  recall  of  Charles  II.  which  took  place  ou 
the  murder  of  his  father,  except  he  was  brought  back 
"  upon  covenant  terms  ;"  which  meant  that  he  should 
sign  the  covenant,  which  bound  him  to  extirpate  the  epis- 
copal church  throughout  the  three  kingdoms.  He  carried 
this  system  to  such  an  extent  in  Aberdeen,  and  was  so 
much  in  the  habit  of  denouncing  people  by  name  from 
the  pulpit,  and  uttering  such  anathemas  and  imprecations 
upon  them,  that  his  tyranny  could  be  no  longer  borne, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  resign  the  living,  into  which  he 
had  been  intruded,  and  leave  the  city.  He  died  in  1664. 
— Skinner.    Lawsoii.   Stephens. 

CANUS,    MELCHIOR. 

Melchior  Canus  was  born  at  Taran^on,  in  the  diocese 
of  Toledo,  in  1523.  In  early  life  he  became  a  Dominican, 
and  studied  at  Salamanca,  where,  in  1546,  he  succeeded 
his  tutor,  Francis  Victoria,  as  professor  of  theology,  and 
formed  a  party  which  opposed  that  of  Carranza,  his  col- 
league, who  was  the  very  reverse  of  himself  in  character. 
It  is  said  that  he  contributed  much  to  the  disgrace  of 
Carranza.  (See  Ms  Life. J  He  was  summoned  to  the 
Council  of  Trent  by  Paul  III. ;  and,  in  1552,  made  Bishop 
of  the  Canary  Islands.  His  enemies,  especially  the 
Jesuits,  thought  thus  to  get  rid  of  him.  But  Canus,  by 
his  politic  flattery  of  Philip  II.,  and  especially  by  his  en- 
couragement of  the  ambitious  projects  of  that  prince,  soon 


CAPELLUS.  433 

procured  his  recall  to  Spain,  and  became  provincial  of  his 
order  in  Castile.  He  died  at  Toledo,  in  1560.  His  trea- 
tise, De  Locis  Theologicis,  pubUshed  after  his  death,  Sala- 
manca, 156*2,  folio,  is  said  to  be  the  ablest  of  his  works  ; 
the  latest  edition  is  that  by  Serrv,  Vienna,  1754,  in  two 
vols,  4to.  A  complete  edition  of  his  works  was  published 
at  Cologne,  in  1605,  and  in  1678,  in  8vo ;  and  at  Venice, 
in  1759,  in  4to. — Moreti.    DiqAn. 

CAPELLUS,    LEWIS. 

Lewis  Gapellus  was  born  at  Sedan,  in  Champagne, 
about  1579.  In  1610  he  came  to  Oxford  where  he  resided 
for  some  time  at  Exeter  College.  He  was  afterwards 
professor  of  Divinity  and  of  the  Oriental  Languages  at 
Saumur,  where  he  died  in  1651.  His  most  celebrated  works 
are  his  Arcanum  Punctiouis  revelatum,  and  his  Critica 
Sacra,  by  both  of  which  he  was  involved  in  controversy. 
The  first  gave  rise  to  his  controversy  with  the  younger 
Buxtorf,  concerning  the  antiquity  of  Hebrew  vowel  points. 
By  Buxtorf  it  was  contended  that  the  points  were  coeval 
with  the  Hebrew  language,  and  were  always  in  use  among 
the  Jews  :  Capellus,  with  whom  the  learned  now  generally 
agi'ee,  contended  that  the  points  were  not  known  to  the 
Jews  before  their  dispersion  from  Jerusalem,  but  were 
invented  afterwards  by  modern  rabbins  to  prevent  the 
language,  which  was  every  day  declining,  from  being 
utterly  lost;  in  short,  that  they  were  invented  by  the 
Masoreth  Jews  of  Tiberias,  about  600  years  after  Christ. 

Capellus  was  persecuted  by  the  German  protestants,  who, 
instead  of  entering  into  the  merits  of  his  case,  from  mere 
party  feeling  and  bigotry  opposed  him,  because  they  re- 
garded his  theory  as  making  too  great  a  concession  n 
favour  of  the  Vulgate  ;  which,  having  been  written  before 
the  Masoretic  punctuation,  on  Capelluss  hypothesis,  had 
been  applied  to  the  text,  might  now  claim  to  stand  on 
higher  ground,  and  was  not  to  be  judged  by  these  inno- 
vations. 

yoL.  III.  2  s 


434  CAPELLUS. 

The  same  ultra-protestant  bigotry  prevented  the  publi- 
cation of  his  Critica  Sacra  for  a  considerable  period.  This 
work  is  a  collection  of  various  readings  and  errors,  which 
Capellus  thought  had  crept  into  the  copies  of  the  Bible, 
through  the  carelessness  of  transcribers  ;  and  it  must  have 
been  a  work  of  prodigious  labour,  since  the  author  acknow- 
ledges that  he  had  spent  thirty- six  years  upon  it.  His 
son  went  over  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  obtained  leave 
to  print  the  work  at  Paris,  in  1650.  It  was  said  by 
Morinus,  that  it  would  be  a  mercy  to  Capellus  if  his  book 
were  condemned  at  Rome,  because  it  had  procured  him 
the  hatred  of  the  ultra-Protestant  party,  and  at  the  same 
time  was  prejudicial  to  the  cause  of  the  Roman  Catholics, 
which  it  was  thought  to  support.  His  other  works  are, 
1.  Historia  Apostolica  illustrata.  Gen.  1634,  4to,  insert- 
ed afterwards  in  vol.  i.  of  the  Critici  Sacri,  London,  1660, 
fol.  2.  Spicilegium  post  Messem,  a  collection  of  criticisms 
on  the  New  Testament,  Gen.  1632,  4to,  and  added  after- 
wards to  Cameron's  Myrothecium  Evangelicum,  of  which 
Capellus  was  the  editor.  3.  Diatribae  duae,  also  in  the 
Spicilegium.  4.  Templi  Hierosolymitani  Delineatio  tri- 
plex, in  vol.  i.  of  the  Critici  Sacri.  5.  Ad  novam  Davidis 
Lyram  Animadversiones,  &c.  Salmur.  1643,  8vo.  6.  Dia- 
triba  de  Veris  et  Antiquis  Ebreeorum  Literis,  Amst.  1645, 
12mo,  in  answer  to  Buxtorf.  7.  De  Critica  nuper  a  se 
Edita,  ad  rev.  Virum  D.  Jacob.  Usserium  Armacanum  in 
Hibernia  Episcopum,  Epistola  Apologetica,  in  qua  Amoldi 
Bootii  temeraria  Criticae  Censura  refellitur,  Salmur.  1651, 
4to.  His  correspondence  with  the  learned  Usher  may  be 
seen  in  Parr's  collection  of  letters  to  and  from  the  Arch- 
bishop, pp.  559,  562,  568,  569,  and  587.  8.  Chronologia 
Sacra,  Paris,  1655,  4to,  reprinted  afterwards  among  the 
prolegomena  to  Walton's  Polyglot.  In  1775  and  1778, 
a  new  edition  of  the  Critica  Sacra  of  Capellus  was  pub- 
lished at  Halle,  in  2  vols,  8vo,  by  Vogel  and  Scharfenberg, 
with  corrections  and  improvements. — Capellus  da  Gente 
Capellorum.     Moreri.     Mosheim. 


CARGILL.  435 


CAEDONA,   JOHN    BAPTIST. 


John  Baptist  Caedona  was  a  native  of  Valencia,  and 
canon  of  the  cathedral  in  that  city.  On  going  to  Rome 
he  was  promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  Elne  in  Roussillon, 
which  see  was  afterwards  removed  to  Perpignan.  He  was 
next  translated  to  Vich,  and  lastly  to  Tortosa,  where  he 
died  in  1590.  He  published — 1.  De  Regia  Sancti  Lau- 
rentii  Bibliotheca.  2.  De  Bibliothecis  et  De  Bibliotheca 
Vaticana.  3.  De  expurgandis  hsereticorum  propriis  no- 
minibus.  4.  De  Dyptychis.  In  the  two  first  of  these 
works  he  gives  directions  for  collecting  books,  and  the 
last  contains  some  curious  information  on  the  dyptychs  or 
ancient  public  registers.  Among  his  other  literaiy  labours 
he  sought  to  establish,  by  a  careful  collation  of  manu- 
scripts, the  true  readings  of  the  works  of  the  Fathers.  At 
the  period  of  his  death  he  had  already  restored  upwards 
of  eight  hundred  readings  in  the  works  of  Gregory  the 
Great  and  St.  Hilary. — Moreri.   Fraheri  Tlieatrum. 


CARGILL,    DONALD 

This  unfortunate  man,  regarded  as  a  saint  by  ultra- 
pro  testants,  was  born  in  the  year  1610,  in  the  parish  of 
Rattray,  in  the  county  of  Perth.  He  became  minister  of 
the  Barony  parish  of  Glasgow  in  1650,  but  refusing  to 
axjcept  collation  from  Archbishop  Fairfoull  after  the  Res- 
toration, and  to  celebrate  the  29th  of  May,  he  was 
banished  by  the  privy  council  beyond  the  Tay ;  but  he 
was  not  farther  noticed  till  1 668,  when  he  was  peremptorily 
enjoined  to  observe  the  order  for  his  exile,  though  he  was 
permitted  to  resort  to  Edinburgh  in  1669  on  some  legal 
business,  though  he  was  not  allowed  to  reside  in  the  city 
or  to  approach  Glasgow.  For  some  years  afterwards  he 
wandered  about  as  a  field  preacher,  and  became  conspicu- 
ous by  denouncing  all  who  accepted  the  Indulgence  He 
was  among  the  insurgents  at  the  battle  of  Bothwell  Bridge, 


436  CARGILL. 

at  which  he  was  wounded,  but  he  escaped  to  Holland. 
He  soon,  however,  returned,  and  again  lurked  in  Scotland 
in  connection  with  some  who  wrote  severe  papers  against 
the  government.  Cargill  and  a  zealous  follower  of  his 
religious  principles  were  known  to  be  in  hiding  on  the 
shores  of  the  Frith  of  Forth  above  Queensferry,  and  the 
incumbent  of  Carriden,  who  naturally  felt  uneasy  at  the 
presence  of  two  such  persons  in  that  parish,  informed  the 
governor  of  Blackness  Castle,  who  set  out  in  search  of 
them.  They  were  traced  to  a  public  house  in  Queensferry, 
and  the  governor,  who  had  sent  for  a  party  of  soldiers  to 
take  them,  cajoled  them  by  drinking  wine  until  his  men 
arrived.  As  they  had  no  suspicion  of  this  officer's  purpose 
they  sat  with  him  for  some  time,  till  impatient  at  the 
delay  of  his  men  he  attempted  to  take  them  prisoners. 
A  struggle  ensued,  in  which  Cargill's  associate  was  mor- 
tally wounded,  but  the  field- preacher  was  concealed  by  a 
nei^yhbouring  farmer,  and  fled  into  Lanarkshire.  In  the 
pocket  of  his  friend  was  found  a  very  violent  document, 
which  was  understood  to  have  been  writte^i  by  Cargill, 
and  is  known  by  the  soubriquet  of  the  Queensferry  Cove- 
nant, from  the  place  where  it  was  found.  He  was  con- 
cerned with  Richard  Cameron  in  the  Sanquhar  exploit, 
when,  on  the  2-2nd  of  June,  1680,  they  collected  twenty 
of  their  infatuated  followers  at  the  Royal  Burgh  of  San- 
quhar, and  there,  with  such  formalities  as  gave  their  pro- 
ceedincfs  the  sanction  of  a  divine  law,  read  a  declaration, 
in  which  they  renounced  their  allegiance,  and  made  war 
against  the  King,  as  a  tyrant  and  usurper.  He  collected 
a  large  assemblage  at  the  Torwood,  and,  after  preaching 
two  sermons  he  "excommunicated  and  delivered  to  Satan," 
as  he  phrased  it,  Charles  XL,  the  Dukes  of  York,  Mon- 
mouth, Rothes,  and  Lauderdale,  Sir  George  Mackenzie, 
and  General  Dalyell  of  Binns,  renounced  his  allegiance, 
absolved  all  the  King's  subjects  from  the  same,  and  de- 
clared that  no  human  power  could  reverse  this  sentence 
unless  those  personages  repented.  This  fulmination, 
sufficieutly  harraless  and  even  ludicrous  so  far  as  Cargill's 


CARGILL.  437 

ecclesiastical  authority  was  concerned,  was  a  serious  affair 
to  himself  and  his  followers.  The  privy  council  failed 
not  to  perceive  that  it  was  calculated  not  only  to  bring 
them  into  contempt,  while  it  was  a  direct  act  of  treason, 
but  that  it  tended  to  mark  them  as  proper  objects  for  the 
vengeance  of  the  ignorant  and  enthusiastic  peasantry, 
who  were  taught  that  assassination  was  meritorious. 
Cargill  was  intercommuned,  and  a  reward  was  offered  for 
him  of  5000  merks.  Numerous  stories  and  traditions 
are  told  of  his  narrow  escapes  from  the  soldiers  and  others 
in  search  of  him,  but  he  was  at  last  seized  at  Covington, 
in  Lanarkshire,  conveyed  to  Lanark  on  horseback  with 
his  feet  tied  under  the  animal's  belly,  and  thence  to 
Glasgow,  from  which  he  was  removed  to  Edinburgh, 
where  he  was  tried  on  the  •26th  of  July,  1681,  condemned 
for  high  treason,  and  executed  on  the  following  day.  The 
spot  on  the  Torwood  at  which  Cargill  '  excommunicated' 
Charles  II.  and  the  others  was  long  pointed  out  as  a 
square  field  near  Sir  William  Wallace's  oak,  which  has 
now  disappeared. 

By  ultra-protestant  writers,  who  contend  that  he  merely 
carried  out  protestant  principles  in  having  recourse  to 
rebellion,  he  is  said  to  have  had  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and 
miracles  were  wrought  in  his  favour.  (See  Scots'  Worthies,  j 
As  a  specimen  of  his  artifice  as  a  minister  we  give  the 
following  anecdote,  which  would  have  been  denounced  as 
priestcraft  by  those  who  narrate  it,  had  the  actor  been  a 
Jesuit  instead  of  a  Presbyterian. 

There  was  a  certain  woman  in  Eutherglen,  about  two 
miles  from  Glasgow,  who,  by  the  instigation  of  some,  both 
ministers  and  professors,  was  persuaded  to  advise  her 
husband  to  go  but  once  to  hear  the  curate,  to  prevent  the 
family  being  reduced,  which  she  prevailed  with  him  to  do. 
But  going  the  next  day  after  to  milk  her  cows,  two  or 
three  of  them  dropt  down  dead  at  her  feet,  and  Satan, 
as  she  conceived,  appeared  unto  her,  which  cast  her  under 
sad  and  sore  exercises  and  desertion,  so  that  she  was 
2p2 


438  CARLETON. 

brought  to  question  her  interest  in  Christ,  and  all  that 
had  formerly  passed  betwixt  God  and  her  soul,  and  was 
often  tempted  to  destroy  herself,  and  sundry  times  at- 
tempted it.  Being  before  known  to  be  an  eminent  Chris- 
tian, she  was  visited  by  many  Christians,  but  without 
success,  still  crying  she  was  undone,  she  had  denied 
Christ,  and  He  had  denied  her.  After  continuing  a  long 
time  in  this  exercise,  she  cried  for  Mr.  Cargill,  who  came 
to  her,  but  found  her  distemper  so  strong,  that  for  several 
visits  he  was  obliged  to  leave  her  as  he  found  her,  to  his 
no  small  grief.  However,  after  setting  some  days  apart 
on  her  behalf,  he  at  last  came  again  to  her,  but  finding 
her  no  better,  still  rejecting  all  comfort,  still  crying  out, 
that  she  had  no  interest  in  the  mercy  of  God,  or  merits  of 
Christ,  but  had  sinned  the  unpardonable  sin  ;  he,  looking 
in  her  face  for  a  considerable  time,  took  out  his  Bible, 
and  naming  her,  said,  "  I  have  this  day  a  commission 
from  my  Lord  and  Master,  to  renew  the  marriage  contract 
betwixt  you  and  him  ;  and  if  ye  will  not  consent,  I  am  to 
require  your  subscription  on  this  Bible,  that  you  are 
v^illing  to  quit  all  right,  interest  in,  or  pretence  unto 
Him  ;"  and  then  he  offered  her  pen  and  ink  for  that  pur- 
pose. She  was  silent  for  some  time,  but  at  last  cried  out, 
"  0  !  salvation  is  come  unto  this  house.  I  take  Him,  I  take 
Him  on  His  own  terms,  as  He  is  offered  to  me  by  His 
faithful  ambassador."     From  that  time  her  bonds  were 

loosed. hawsons   Scottish    Church.      Stephens.      Scots' 

Worthies. 


CARLETON,   GEORGE. 

George  Carleton  was  born  at  Norham,  in  Northumber- 
land, his  father  being,  at  the  period  of  his  birth,  the 
governor  of  the  castle.  He  was  educated  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Bernard  Gilpin,  by  whom  he  was  sent  to  Edmund 
Hall,  Oxford,  in  1576.  Having  taken  his  Bachelor's 
degree,  he  was  elected   a  fellow  of  Merton,  deferring  his 


CARLETON.  439 

M.A.  degree  till  1585.  In  1618  he  was  appointed  to  the 
bishopric  of  LandafF,  and  in  the  same  year  he  submitted 
to  the  disgrace  of  being  sent  by  King  James  I.  to  attend 
the  schismatical  meeting  called  the  Synod  of  Dort.  When 
there,  an  indirect  attack  being  made,  by  the  introduction 
of  the  Belgic  Confession,  upon  the  Catholic  Church  on  the 
doctrine  of  episcopacy,  Bishop  Carleton  thought  proper  to 
defend  his  order.  Low  Id  every  other  point  of  doctrine  as 
he  was,  here,  being  personally  concerned,  he  took  suflQ- 
ciently  high  grouud.  His  own  account  of  his  conduct  is 
as  follows  : — 

"  When  we  were  to  yield  our  consent  to  the  Belgic 
Confession  at  Dort,  I  made  open  protestation  in  the  synod, 
that  whereas  in  the  confession  there  was  inserted  a  strange 
conceit  of  the  parity  of  ministers  to  be  instituted  by 
Christ,  I  declared  our  dissent  utterly  in  that  point.  I 
showed  that  by  Christ'  a  parity  was  never  instituted  in 
the  Church  :  that  he  ordained  twelve  Apostles,  as  also 
seventy  disciples  :  that  the  authority  of  the  twelve  was 
above  the  other  :  that  the  Church  preserved  this  order  left 
by  our  Saviour.  And  therefore,  when  the  extraordinary 
power  of  the  Apostles  ceased,  yet  this  ordinary  authority 
continued  in  Bishops,  who  succeeded  them,  \7ho  were  by 
the  Apostles  left  in  the  government  of  the  Church,  to 
ordain  ministers,  and  to  see  that  they  who  were  so 
ordained  should  preach  no  other  doctrine ;  that  in  an 
inferior  degree  the  ministers,  who  were  governed  by 
Bishops,  succeeded  the  seventy  disciples :  that  this  order 
hath  been  maintained  in  the  Church  from  the  times  of 
the  Apostles.  And  herein  I  appealed  to  the  judgment  of 
antiquity,  and  to  the  judgment  of  any  learned  man  now 
living ;  and  craved  herein  to  be  satisfied,  if  any  man  of 
learning  could  speak  to  the  contrary.  My  Lord  of  Salis- 
bury is  my  witness,  and  so  are  all  the  rest  of  our  com- 
pany, who  spake  also  in  the  cause. 

"  To  this  the  Bishop  subjoins,  that  in  a  conference  with 
some  divines  of  that  synod  he  told  them,  the  cause  of  all 
the  troubles,  was  because  they  had  no  Bishops  amongst 


440  CARLETON. 

them,  who  by  their  authority  might  repress  turbulent 
spirits  that  broached  novelty,  every  man  having  liberty  to 
speak  and  write  what  they  list :  and  that  as  long  as  there 
were  no  ecclesiastical  men  in  authority  to  repress  and 
censure  such  contentious  spirits,  their  Church  could  never 
be  without  trouble.  To  this  their  answer  was,  that  they 
had  a  great  honour  for  the  good  order  and  discipline  in 
the  Church  of  England,  and  heartily  wished  they  could 
establish  themselves  upon  this  model :  but  they  had  no 
prospect  of  such  a  happiness  ;  and  since  the  civil  govern- 
ment had  made  their  desires  impracticable,  they  hoped 
God  would  be  merciful  to  them." 

"  By  the  way,"  observes  Collier,  "  the  States,  upon 
their  revolt  from  the  King  of  Spain,  destroj^ed  seven  sees, 
and  applied  the  revenues  to  the  public  service.  The 
names  of  them  are  these :  the  bishopric  of  Harlem  in 
Holland  ;  of  Middleborough,  in  Zealand ;  of  Lewarden,  in 
Friezlann  ;  of  Groningue,  in  Groningen  ;  of  Deventer,  in 
Overyssell ;  of  Ruremonde,  in  Guelderland :  and  the 
archbishopric  of  Utrecht,  to  which  the  Bishops  of  the 
other  sees  above  mentioned  were  suffragans. 

"  Thus,  it  is  possible,  the  gain  of  sacrilege  prevailed  to 
break  the  apostolical  government.  Those  at  the  helm 
might  be  averse  to  the  continuing  episcopacy,  for  fear  some 
pait  of  the  old  endowments  should  be  expected  to  main- 
tain it.  Thus  the  mitre  was  sent  to  the  mint,  to  keep  the 
new  exchequer  in  cash :  the  crozier  was  seized,  and  a 
staff  provided  instead  of  it.  Some  people  love  a  cheap 
religion,  and  a  poor  clergy :  a  clergy  without  strength 
either  in  character  or  circumstances.  This  is  the  way  to 
make  discipline  low  and  easy ;  to  check  the  freedom  of 
the  pulpits,  and  prevent  their  being  troublesome  to  the 
shop  and  exchange." 

On  his  return  to  England  Bishop  Carleton  was  trans- 
lated to  Chichester,  where  he  died,  in  1628.  Among  his 
works  are  enumerated :  Tithes  examined,  and  proved  to 
be  due  to  the  Clergy  by  a  Divine  Right,  Loudon,  1600, 
and  1011,   4to.     Jurisdiction   Regal,    Episcopal,  Papal; 


CAROLOSTADT.  441 

wherein  is  declared  how  the  Pope  hath  intruded  upon  the 
Jurisdiction  of  Temporal  Princes,  and  of  the  Church,  &c. 
London,  1610,  Ito.  Consensus  Ecclesiae  Catholic?e  con- 
tra Tridentinos,  de  Scripturis,  Ecclesiae,  Fide,  et  Gratia^ 
&c.  London,  1613,  8vo.  A  thankful  Remembrance  of  God  s 
Mercy.  In  an  Historical  Collection  of  the  great  and  mei'- 
ciful  Deliverances  of  the  Church  and  State  of  England, 
since  the  Gospel  began  here  to  flourish,  from  the  begin- 
ning of  Queen  Elizabeth,  London,  1614.  The  historical 
part  is  chiefly  extracted  from  Camden's  xA.nnals  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  Short  Directions  to  know  the  true  Church, 
London,  1615,  &c.,  12mo.  Examination  of  those  Things 
wherein  the  Author  of  the  late  Appeal  (Montague,  after- 
wards Bishop  of  Chichester)  hokleth  the  Doctrine  of 
Pelagians  and  Arminians  to  be  the  Doctrines  of  the 
Church  of  England,  London,  16'26,  and  l6o6,  4to.  A 
joint  Attestation,  avowing  that  the  Discipline  of  the 
Church  of  England  was  not  impeached  by  the  Synod 
of  Dort,  London,  1628,  4to.  Vita  Bernardi  Giljoini, 
Yiri  sanctiss.  famaque  apud  Anglos  Aquilnonares  cele- 
berrimi,  London,  16-^6,  4to,  inserted  in  Dr.  W.  Bates' 
Collection  of  Lives,  London,  1681,  4to.  Latin  Letter  to 
Mr.  Camden,  containing  some  Notes  and  Observations  on 
his  Britannia.  Printed  by  Dr.  Smith,  amongst  Camdeni 
Epistolse,  No.  80.  He  had  also  a  share  in  the  Dutch 
Annotations,  and  in  the  new  translations  of  the  Bible, 
undertaken  by  order  of  the  Synod  of  Dort,  but  not  com- 
pleted and  published  till  1637. — Fuller.   Wood.    Collier. 


CAEOLOSTADT,  OR  CARLSTADT,  ANDREW  BODENSTEIN. 

Andrew  Bodenstein  Carolostadt,  a  celebrated  Re- 
former, was  born  at  Carlstadt,  in  Franconia.  The  year 
of  his  birth  is  not  known.  In  1502  he  became  doctor  in 
divinity  at  Wittemberg,  where  he  held  a  professorship,  a 
canonry,  and  the  archdeaconry.  While  he  was  dean  of 
the    College,    in   the   year  1512,  the   celebrated  Martin 


44a  CAROLOSTADT. 

Luther  was  admitted  to  his  doctor's  decree,  and  the  two 
doctors  became  intimate.  In  1517,  Oarolostadt  was  one 
of  Luther's  most  zealous  adherents  in  opposing  the  cor- 
ruptions of  popery.  He  was  first  distinguished  as  a  Re- 
former in  dispute  with  Eck,  or  Eckius,  which  took  place 
at  Leipsic,  in  1519.  An  account  of  this  disputation  will 
be  given  in  the  Life  of  Eck,  and  in  that  of  Luther.  The 
protestant  historian,  Ranke,  thus  describes  the  part  which 
our  Reformer  bore  in  this  disputation. 

"  Carolostadt  had  insisted  on  his  right  of  opening  the 
debate,  but  he  acquired  little  glory  from  it.  He  brought 
books,  out  of  which  he  read  passages,  then  hunted  for 
others,  then  read  again ;  the  objections  which  his  oppo- 
nent advanced  one  day,  he  answered  the  next.  How  dif- 
ferent a  disputator  was  Johann  Eck  !  His  knowledge  was 
all  at  his  command,  ready  for  use  at  the  moment ;  he 
required  so  little  time  for  preparation,  that  immediately 
after  his  return  from  a  ride  he  mounted  the  chair.  He 
was  tall,  with  large  muscular  limbs,  and  loud  penetrating 
voice,  and  walked  backwards  and  forwards  while  speaking  ; 
he  had  an  exception  ready  to  take  against  every  argu- 
ment ;  his  memory  and  address  dazzled  his  hearers.  In 
the  matter  itself — the  explanation  of  the  doctrine  of  grace 
and  free-will  —  no  progress  was,  of  course,  made.  Some- 
times the  combatants  approximated  so  nearly  in  opinion, 
that  each  boasted  he  had  brought  over  the  other  to  his 
side,  but  they  soon  diverged  again.  With  the  exception 
of  a  distinction  made  by  Eck,  nothing  new  was  produced ; 
the  most  important  points  were  scarcely  touched  upon ; 
and  the  whole  affair  was  sometimes  so  tedious  that  tlie 
hall  was  emptied." 

Carolostadt  was  now  suspended  from  all  communion 
with  the  Church ;  and  carrying  out  his  principles  to 
their  full  extent,  he  became  the  first  ultra-protestant.  In 
1521  he  attacked  the  institution  of  celibacy,  in  a  work  of 
some  length,  and  was  himself  one  of  the  first  of  the  pro- 
testant theologians  to  break  his  vows  and  to  marry.  So 
far  he  had  proceeded  with  the  sanction  of  Luther ;  but  the 


CAEOLOSTADT.  448 

influence  of  Carolostadt  in  Wittemberg,  while  Luther  was 
confined  in  what  he,  somewhat  profanely,  styled  his 
Patmos,  excited  the  jealousy,  while  the  vehemence  with 
which  he  acted  up  to  the  principles  he  adopted,  awakened 
the  fears  of  his  brother  reformer.  The  townspeople  had 
become  so  riotous  at  the  close  of  the  year  1521,  encourag- 
ing some  of  the  students  and  younger  burghers,  who  had 
entered  the  parish  church  when  mass  was  about  to  be 
sung,  with  knives  under  their  coats,  and  snatched  away 
the  mass  books,  driving  the  priests  from  the  altar,  that 
the  Elector  was  obliged  to  interfere.  The  excitement, 
however,  as  Kanke  observes,  was  already  too  great  to  be 
restrained  by  the  command  of  a  prince  whose  leniency 
was  so  well  known ;  and  accordingly  Dr.  Carolostadt 
announced,  in  spite  of  it,  that  on  the  feast  of  the  circum- 
cision he  should  celebrate  the  mass  according  to  a  new 
rite,  and  administer  the  Xiord's  Supper  in  the  words  of 
the  Founder.  He  had  already  attempted  something  of 
the  kind  in  the  month  of  October,  but  with  only  twelve 
communicants,  in  exact  imitation  of  the  example  of 
Christ.  As  it  seemed  probable  that  difficulties  would  be 
thrown  in  his  way,  he  determined  not  to  wait  till  the  day 
appointed,  and  on  Christmas  Day,  1521,  he  preached  in 
the  parish  church  on  the  necessity  of  abandoning  the 
ancient  rite  and  receiving  the  sacrament  in  both  kinds. 
After  the  sermon  he  went  up  to  the  altar  and  said  the 
mass,  omitting  the  words  which  convey  the  idea  of  a 
sacrifice,  and  the  ceremony  of  the  elevation  of  the  host, 
and  then  distributed  first  the  bread  and  next  the  wine, 
with  the  words,  "  This  is  the  cup  of  my  blood  of  the  new 
and  everlasting  covenant."  This  act  was  so  entirely  An 
harmony  with  the  feelings  of  the  congregation  that  no  one 
ventured  to  oppose  it.  On  New  Year's  Day  he  repeated 
this  ritual,  and  continued  to  do  so  every  succeeding  Sun- 
day; he  also  preached  every  Friday. 

Carolostadt  did  not  hesitate  at  the  strangest  and  most 
arbitrary  interpretations  of  Scripture ;  having  renounced 
the  tradition  of  the  Church,  he  felt  that  he  had  as  much 


444  CAROLOSTADT. 

right  as  Luther  to  follow  the  impulse  of  his  own  mind.  At 
this  time,  this  zealous  reformer  doubted  whether  Moses 
was  really  the  author  of  the  books  which  bear  his  name, 
and  whether  the  Gospels  have  come  down  to  us  in  their 
genuine  form.  So  early  did  Lutheranism  develope  itself 
in  rationalism.  He  was  thus  prepared  to  join  himself 
with  those  protestants  in  Wittemberg,  who  complained 
that  Luther's  reformation  had  not  gone  far  enough ;  and 
heading  these,  our  reformer  introduced  more  striking 
reforms  every  day.  The  priestly  garments  were  abolished, 
and  Auricular  confession  disused.  People  went  to  receive 
the  sacrament  without  preparation,  and  imagined  that 
they  had  gained  an  important  point,  when  they  took  the 
host  with  their  own  hands  instead  of  receiving  it  from 
those  of  the  priest.  It  was  held  to  be  the  mark  of  a 
purer  Christianity  to  eat  eggs  and  meat  on  fast  days 
especially.  The  pictures  in  the  churches  were  now  es- 
teemed an  abomination  in  the  holy  place.  Carolostadt 
disregarded  the  distinction  which  had  always  been  made 
between  reverence  and  adoration,  and  applied  all  the 
texts  in  the  Bible  directed  against  idolatry  to  the  worship 
of  images.  He  insisted  upon  the  fact  that  people  bowed 
and  knelt  before  them,  and  lighted  tapers,  and  brought 
offerings  ;  that,  for  example,  they  contemplated  the  image 
of  St.  Christopher,  in  order  that  they  might  be  preserved 
against  sudden  death  ;  he  therefore  exhorted  his  followers 
to  attack  and  destroy  "  these  painted  gods,  these  idle 
logs."  He  would  not  even  tolerate  the  crucifix,  because 
he  said  men  called  it  their  God,  whereas  it  could  only 
remind  them  of  the  bodily  sufferings  of  Christ.  It  had 
been  determined  that  the  images  should  be  removed  from 
the  churches,  but  as  this  was  not  immediately  executed, 
his  zeal  became  more  fiery  ;  at  his  instigation  an  icono- 
clast riot  now  commenced,  similar  to  those  which  half  a 
century  afterwards  broke  out  in  so  many  other  countries. 
The  images  were  torn  from  the  altars,  chopped  in  pieces 
and  burnt.  It  is  obvious  that  these  acts  of  violence  gave 
a  most  dangerous  and  menacing  character  to  the  whole 


CAROLOSTADT.  446 

controversy.  Carolostadt  not  only  quoted  the  Old  Testa- 
ment to  show  that  the  secular  authorities  had  power  to 
remove  from  the  churches  whatever  could  give  scandal  to 
the  faithful,  but  added,  that  if  the  magistrates  neglected 
this  duty,  the  community  was  justified  in  carrying  out  the 
necessary  changes.  AccordiDgly  the  citizens  of  Wittem- 
berg  laid  a  petition  before  the  council,  in  which  they 
demanded  the  formal  abolition  of  all  unbiblical  ceremonies, 
masses,  vigils,  and  processions,  and  unlimited  liberty  for 
their  preachers.  The  council  was  forced  to  concede  these 
points  oue  after  the  other ;  nor  did  even  these  concessions 
satisfy  the  innovators.  Their  project  was  to  realize  with- 
out delay  their  own  conception  of  a  strictly  Christian 
community.  The  couucil  was  called  upon  to  close  all 
places  of  public  amusement,  not  only  those  which  the  law 
prohibited,  but  those  which  it  had  sanctioned  ;  to  abolish 
the  mendicant  orders  ^yho,  they  said,  ought  not  to  exist  in 
Christendom,  and  to  divide  the  funds  of  the  religious 
communities,  which  were  pronounced  to  be  altogether 
mischievous  and  corrupt,  among  the  poor.  To  these  sug- 
gestions of  a  bigoted  fanaticism,  blind  to  the  real  nature 
and  interests  of  society,  were  added  the  most  pernicious 
doctrines  of  the  Taborites.  An  old  professor  like  Carolo- 
stadt suffered  himself  to  be  carried  away  by  the  contagion 
to  such  a  degree  as  to  maintain  that  there  was  no  need  of 
learned  men,  or  of  a  course  of  academic  study,  and  still 
less  of  academic  honours.  In  his  lectures  he  advised  his 
hearers  to  return  home  and  till  the  ground,  for  that  man 
ought  to  eat  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow.  One  of 
his  most  zealous  adherents  was  George  Mohr,  the  rector 
of  the  grammar  school,  who  addressed  the  assembled 
citizens  from  the  window  of  the  school-house,  exhorting 
them  to  take  away  their  children.  Of  what  use,  said  he, 
would  learning  be  henceforth?  They  had  now  among 
them  the  divine  prophets  of  Zwickau,  Storch,  Thoma,  and 
Stiibner,  who  conversed  with  God,  and  were  filled  with 
grace  and  knowledge  without  any  study  whatsoever.     The 

VOL.  III.  3  Q 


446  CAROLOSTADT. 

common  people  -were  of  course  easily  convinced  that  a  lay- 
man or  an  artisan  was  perfectly  qualified  for  the  office  of 
a  priest  and  teacher. 

Carolostadt  himself  went  into  the  houses  of  the  citizens 
and  asked  them  for  an  explanation  of  obscure  passages  in 
Scripture ;  acting  on  the  text  that  God  reveals  to  babes 
what  He  hides  from  wise  men.  Students  left  the  univer- 
sity and  went  home  to  learn  a  handicraft,  saying  that 
there  was  no  longer  any  need  of  study. 

The  two  great  reformers,  Luther  and  Carolostadt,  were 
now  at  the  head  of  two  distinct  parties,  Carolostadt  being 
an  advocate  for  physical  force,  (as   Luther  had   appeared 
formerly  to  be,)  and  Luther  now  maintaining  that  the 
Reformation    should    be   carried   by   moral    force    only. 
Luther  appeared  suddenly  at  Wittemberg,  having  left  his 
retreat   at  Wartburg :   at   his   presence  the   tumult   was 
hushed,  the  revolt  quelled,   and  order  restored.     Carolo- 
stadt was   condemned  to   silence.     He  was    reproached, 
strange   to   say,  with   having  intruded  himself  into  the 
ministry,   and  was  forbidden  to  enter  the  pulpit  again. 
Wittemberg,  says  Ranke,  was  now  once  more  quiet ;  the 
mass  was   as  far  as  possible  restored,   preceded  by  con- 
fession,  and  the  host  was  received  as  before  with  the  lips. 
It  was  celebrated  in  hallowed  garments,  with   music  and 
all  the  customary  ceremonies,  and  even  in  Latin ;  nothing 
was  omitted  but  the  words  of  the  canon  which  expressly 
denote  the  idea  of  a  sacrifice.     In  every  other  respect 
there  was  perfect  freedom  of  opinion  on  these  points,  and 
latitude  as  to  forms.     Luther  himself  remained   in  the 
convent  and  wore  the  Augustine  dress,  but  he  offered  no 
oj^position  to  others  who  chose  to  return  to  the  world. 
The  Lord's  Supper  was  administered  in  one  kind  or  in 
both :  those  who  were  not  satisfied  with  the  general  abso- 
lution, were  at  full  liberty  to  require  a  special  one.    Ques- 
tions were  continually  raised  as  to  the  precise  limits  of 
what  was  absolutely  forbidden,    and  what  might  still  be 
permitted.     The  maxim  of  Luther  and  Melancthon  was. 


CAROLOSTADT.  447 

to  condemn  nothing  that  had  not  some  authentic  passage 
in  the  Bible, — "  clear  and  undoubted  Scripture,"  as  the 
phrase  was, — against  it.  This  was  not  the  result  of 
indifiference  ;  religion  withdrew  within  the  bounds  of  her 
own  proper  province,  and  the  sanctuary  of  her  pure  and 
genuine  ii  fluences.  It  thus  became  possible  to  develope 
and  extend  the  new  system  of  faith,  without  waging  open 
warfare  with  that  already  established,  or,  by  the  sudden 
subversion  of  existing  authorities,  rousing  those  destruc- 
tive tendencies,  the  slightest  agitation  of  which  had  just 
threatened  such  danger  to  society  Even  in  the  theolo- 
gical exposition  of  these  doctrines,  it  was  necessary  to  keep 
in  view  the  perils  arising  from  opinions  subversive  of  all 
sound  morality.  Luther  already  began  to  perceive  the 
danger  of  insisting  on  the  saving  power  of  faith  alone  ; 
already  he  taught  that  faith  should  show  itself  in  good 
conduct,  brotherly  love,/  soberness,  and  quiet. 

Carolostadt  being  in  1524  driven  from  Wittemberg,  was 
obliged  to  retire  to  Orlemund,  a  town  of  Thuringia,  in  the 
electorate  of  Saxony.  The  Lutherans  complained  that  he 
had  here  no  legitimate  appointment  to  the  ministry;  what 
appointment  more  legitimate  than  their  own  he  could  have 
had  is  not  apparent,  he  was  elected  by  the  people  to  be  their 
spiritual  pastor,  and  he  met  with  their  approbation,  when 
he  asserted  the  right  of  the  people  to  have  recourse  to 
*•  physical  force,"  in  the  assertion  of  their  civil  and  religious 
liberties.  Luther,  with  some  inconsistency,  proclaimed 
himself  an  advocate  only  of  "moral  force;"  Carolostadt 
was  accused  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony  of  favouring  the 
Anabaptists,  and  the  rebellion  of  the  peasants.  Luther 
being  sent  to  Orlemund  by  the  Elector  to  inform  him  of 
the  truth  of  the  matter,  and  appease  the  people,  as  he 
passed  through  Jena,  August  '23,  preached  zealously,  as 
his  manner  was,  against  Carolostadt,  who  was  then  pre- 
sent, yet  not  naming  him,  saying,  "  that  the  Sacramenta- 
rians  and  Image-fighters  were  actuated  by  the  spirit  of 
MuDcer,  the  leader  of  the  Anabaptists."  As  he  went  out 
from  sermon  Carolostadt  went  to  him,  to  the  Black  Bear 


448  CAROLOSTADT. 

Inn,  where  he  lodged,  and  railed  at  him  for  what  he  had 
said,  protestiDg,  that  he  had  no  correspondence  with 
Muncer,  nor  did  in  the  least  approve  his  actions,  or  his 
doctrine.  He  added,  that  supposing  he  were  in  an  error, 
Luther  transgressed  the  laws  of  Christian  charity  in 
inveighing  against  him  publicly,  before  he  had  given  him 
any  private  admonition  or  reproof;  and  lastly,  that  Luther 
contradicted  himself  in  what  he  had  written  upon  the 
Sacrament.  Nevertheless  he  offered  to  change  his  opinion 
if  he  would  shew  him  that  he  was  in  an  error.  Luther 
answered  him,  and  after  a  long  discourse  on  both  sides, 
when  the  contest  grew  hot,  Luther  being  naturally 
passionate,  challenged  Carolostadt  to  write  against  him, 
and  taking  a  piece  of  gold  out  of  his  purse,  gave  it  him 
saying,  "take  it,  write  against  me  as  strongly  as  you  can." 
Carolostadt  took  it,  and  said  to  his  friends  and  assistants, 
"Brethren,  see  the  sign  and  earnest  of  the  powers  which  X 
receive  against  Dr.  Luther,  I  pray  you  be  witnesses." 
Then  they  shook  hands  and  drank  each  other's  health. 
The  next  day  Luther  arrived  at  Orlemund,  Carolostadt 
went  to  him  and  saluted  him :  what  he  said  to  him  be- 
sides, was  this  :  Carolostadt,  you  are  my  adversary,  and 
you  have  received  a  florin  to  declare  yourself  against  me. 
He  would  not  have  had  him  present  at  the  conference 
which  he  had  with  the  inhabitants  of  Orlemund,  who 
received  Luther  very  roughly,  so  that  he  was  obliged  to 
leave  the  place.  Soon  after,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  at 
his  earnest  request,  commanded  Carolostadt  to  depart 
out  of  his  countries.  Martinus  Renbardus,  preacher  at 
Jena,  was  also  banished  with  him.  Carolostadt  after  his 
departure  wrote  a  letter  to  the  inhabitants  of  Orlemund, 
which  was  read  in  a  full  congregation  of  the  people  called 
together  by  the  tolling  of  a  bell,  and  in  it  he  complains, 
that  Luther  had  banished  him  without  being  heard  or 
convicted.  Being  settled  at  Strasburg,  he  put  out  two 
books  upon  the  Lord's  Supper,  to  maintain  his  notion  of 
it,  and  his  interpretation  of  our  Lord's  words  at  the  insti- 
tution, namely,  that  the  Body  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not  in 


CAROLOSTADT.  449 

the  Sacrament,  which  is  only  a  commemoration  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  given  and  shed  for  us ;  and  that 
these  words,  This  is  mj  Body  given  for  you,  This  is  mj 
Blood  shed  for  you,  have  no  relation  to  the  Bread  and 
Wine,  but  to  the  Body  of  Jesus  Christ  then  present  and 
visible. 

Thus  was  Carolostadt  the  founder  of  the  heresy  which, 
in  modern  times,  has  arrogated  to  itself  the  title  of  being 
Evangelical,  which  denies  to  the  Eucharist  the  sacra- 
mental character,  and  makes  it  a  mere  ceremony,  and  not 
a  means  of  grace.  Luther,  the  father  of  protestantism, 
continued  to  the  last  to  contend  against  Carolostadt  in 
favour  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence  ;  "  I  neither 
can,"  says  he,  "  nor  will  deny,  that  if  Carolostadt,  or  any 
one  else  could  have  persuaded  me,  during  the  last  five 
years,  that  in  the  Sacrament  there  is  nothing  but  mere 
bread  and  wine,  he  would  have  conferred  on  me  a  great 
obligation.  I  have  examined  this  matter  with  the  utmost 
anxiety,  and  with  persevering  diligence  ;  I  have  stretched 
every  nerve  with  a  view  to  unravel  the  mystery ;  for  I 
most  clearly  saw  that  the  new  tenet  would  give  me  a  great 
advantage  in  my  contests  with  the  papacy.  Moreover.  I 
have  had  a  correspondence  on  this  subject  with  two 
persons  much  more  acute  than  Carolostadt,  and  not  at  all 
disposed  to  twist  words  from  their  natural  meaning.  But 
the  text  in  the  gospel  is  so  strong  and  unequivocal,  that  I 
have  found  myself  compelled  to  submit  to  its  decision. 
Its  force  can  be  eluded  in  no  way  whatever,  much  less  by 
the  fictitious  glosses  of  a  giddy  brain." 

From  this  may  be  seen  the  wickedness  of  those  who 
accuse  persons  who  hold  the  doctrine  of  the  Real  Pre- 
sence of  not  being  good  protestants.  Luther  veiy  pro- 
perly attacked  the  change  in  the  substance  of  the  Bread 
and  Wine  ;  it  was  Carolostadt  who  headed  the  infidel 
denying  the  Real  Presence.  Melancthon,  who  was  con- 
sidered the  mildest  of  the  Reformers,  thus  speaks  of 
Carolostadt : — 

2q2 


450  CAROLOSTADT. 

"  Carolostadt,"  says  he,  "  first  raised  the  tumult  respect- 
iDg  the  Sacrament.  He  was  a  man  of  a  savage  disposi- 
tion, and  of  no  genius  or  learning,  or  even  of  common 
sense ;  a  man  u  ho  vras  so  far  from  having  any  marks  of 
being  influenced  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  I  could  never 
observe  him  either  to  understand  or  practise  even  the 
ordinary  duties  of  humanity.  Nay,  he  has  discovered 
manifest  marks  of  an  unholy  turn  of  mind  :  all  his  notions 
savour  of  sedition  and  of  Judaism.  He  rejected  every  law 
made  by  the  Gentiles,  and  contended,  that  forensic  ques- 
tions ought  to  be  decided  by  the  law  of  Moses ;  so  little 
did  he  comprehend  the  force  and  nature  of  Christian 
liberty.  From  the  very  first  he  embraced  with  his  whole 
might  the  fanatical  doctrine  of  the  Anabaptists,  when 
Nicholas  Storck  attempted  to  sow  the  seeds  of  it  in 
Germany;  and  he  made  a  stir  respecting  the  Sacrament, 
entirely  from  a  dislike  to  Luther,  and  not  in  the  least 
from  any  pious  conviction  that  he  himself  was  in  the 
right.  For  when  Luther  had  expressed  his  disapproba- 
tion of  Carolostadt's  indiscreet  zeal  in  breaking  and  pull- 
ing down  the  images  and  statues,  he  was  so  inflamed  with 
a  monstrous  spirit  of  revenge,  that  he  began  to  look  out 
for  some  plausible  plan  for  ruining  the  reputation  of 
Luther.  A  great  part  of  Germany  can  testify  that  I  speak 
nothing  but  the  truth.  And  if  there  was  need  of  proof, 
his  own  publications  would  be  my  most  decisive  witnesses 
against  their  author.  There  is  not  in  them  even  the 
specious  appearance  of  a  probable  argument,  that  should 
have  induced  the  man  to  take  up  his  pen.  With  how 
jocose  and  trifling  a  spirit  does  he  treat  of  the  Greek  word 
To^To?  Then,  has  he  thrown  any  light  whatever  on  the 
point  of  so  much  importance  in  the  history  of  the  ancient 
Church  ?  or  what  testimony  has  he  produced  from  any 
celebrated  author?  or,  lastly,  what  single  expression  is 
there  in  his  whole  disputation  that  indicates  a  pious 
way  of  thinking  ? — He  only  vociferates,  as  do  the  lowest 
mechanics,  who,  in  their  cups,   are  pleased  with  nothing 


CAROLOSTADT.  451 

but  profane  tales.  ^Moreover,  a  great  part  of  his  writings 
are  taken  up  with  raihng ;  and  yet  the  stupid  author 
would  pass  for  a  man  of  wit  and  humour." 

Melancthon  concludes  this  picture  with  saying, — "  I 
have  written  this  for  the  sake  of  my  neighbours,  that,  if 
they  have  the  least  regard  for  my  testimony,  they  may 
beware  of  such  a  character.  For  though  it  is  not  in  his 
power  to  disguise  his  real  disposition  for  a  long  time  to- 
gether, yet  he  has  a  surprisingly  fair  outside,  and  pos- 
sesses the  arts  of  insinuation  to  a  wonderful  degree.  But 
his  temper  is  violent  and  restless,  and  soon  breaks  out 
into  acts  of  ambition,  passion,  and  envy." 

It  is  indeed  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  foreign 
Reforoiers  were  only  united  when  their  work  was  destruc- 
tion, and  that  they  were  more  bitterly  opposed  to  one 
another,  than  to  the  Romanists,  when  their  work  became 
constructive.  The  wacft  of  a  Christian  spirit,  too  fre- 
quently evident,  caused  many  to  remain  in  the  Church  of 
Rome,  who  were  at  first  scandalized  by  its  abuses,  while 
others  regarded  the  Reformation  as  chiefly  a  political 
movement,  the  form  under  which  the  republican  feeling 
displayed  itself.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that 
whatever  was  the  conduct  of  the  foreign  Reformers,  they 
were  earnest  theologians.  Carolostadt  now  wandered 
from  place  to  place  through  the  higher  Germany,  and  at 
length  made  a  pause  at  Rotenburgh,  where,  as  usual,  he 
soon  raised  tumults,  and  incited  the  people  to  pull  down 
the  statues  and  paintings.  When  the  seditious  faction  of 
the  peasants,  with  Muncer  their  ringleader,  was  efiectually 
suppressed,  Carolostadt  was  in  the  greatest  difficulties, 
and  even  in  danger  of  his  life  from  his  supposed  con- 
nexion with  those  enthusiasts,  and  he  narrowly  escaped, 
through  being  let  down  by  the  wall  of  the  town  in  a 
basket.  Thus  reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  he  and 
his  wife  incessantly  entreated  both  the  Elector  and  Luther 
that  they  might  be  allowed  to  return  into  their  own  coun- 
try. He  said  that  he  could  clear  himself  of  having  had 
any  concern  in  the  rebellion ;  and  that  if  he  failed,  he 


452  CAROLOSTADT. 

would  cheerfully  undergo  any  punishment.  With  this 
view  he  wrote  a  little  tract,  in  which  he  takes  much  pains 
to  justify  himself  from  the  charge  of  sedition  ;  and  he  sent 
a  letter  likewise  to  Luther,  in  which  he  earnestly  begs  his 
assistance  in  the  publishing  of  the  tract,  as  well  as  in  the 
more  general  design  of  establishing  his  innocence.  Luther, 
generously  commiserating  his  fallen  rival,  immediately 
pubhshed  Carolostadt's  letter,  and  called  on  the  magis- 
trates and  on  the  people  to  give  him  a  fair  hearing.  In 
this  he  succeeded ;  and  Carolostadt  was  recalled  about  the 
autumn  of  lD-2b,  and  then  he  made  a  public  recantation 
of  what  he  had  advanced  on  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  a  condescension  which  did  not  procure  a  com- 
plete reconciliation  between  him  and  the  other  reformers, 
and  indeed  affords  but  a  slender  proof  of  his  consistency. 
We  find  Carolostadt,  after  this,  at  Zurich,  and  at  Basle, 
where  he  was  appointed  pastor  and  professor  of  divinity, 
and  where  he  died,  on  the  25th  of  December,  1541,  or 
as  some  say,  1543.  His  friend  Bucer  observes  that, 
although  at  one  time  "  somewhat  savage,"  his  spirit  was 
broken  by  his  daily  persecutions  and  heavy  misfortunes, 
and  he  died  a  penitent.  Milner  complains  that  Bucer  re- 
presents his  former  defect  "  as  the  natural  consequence 
of  having  lived  so  much  in  the  company  of  the  most 
savage  Luther,  and  of  the  incredible  successes  of  the  first 
reformers,  which  might  have  rendered  insolent  any  modest 
man  whatsoever."  Without  remarking  upon  the  ignorance 
displayed  in  this  passage  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel,  and 
the  supernatural  grace  vouchsafed  to  regenerate  man,  it 
will  be  evident  to  the  reader,  that  the  reformers  had  not 
for  one  another  that  almost  idolatrous  reverence  which  is 
demanded  for  them  by  modern  Sectarians.  The  Reforma- 
tion was  the  work  of  God ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  the 
instruments  He  employed  in  effecting  that  work  were 
superior  to  those  used  on  other  occasions. 

The  followers  of  the  gi'eat  Reformer,  whose  life  has  been 
given,  at  first  retained  the  name  of  Carolostadians,  and 
then  were   called   Sacramentarians,  because  they  denied 


CAERANZA.  453 

the  grace  of  the  Sacraments,  especially  of  the  Eucharist, 
lucus  a  non  lucendo.  They  agree  in  most  things  with 
the  Zuinglians,  and  with  the  protestant  sects  in  England 

which    denominate  themselves    Evangelical. Melchior 

Adam.    Milner.    Dauhigny.    Eanke.    Dupin.    Bossuet. 

CARPOCRATES,  OR  CARPOCRAS. 

Carpocrates  was  a  heretic  of  the  second  century,  of 
whose  personal  history  little  is  known.  He  was  an  Alex- 
andrian, and  married  a  female  of  Cephallenia,  by  name 
Alexandria.  Epiphanes  was  their  son.  He  died  at  the 
age  of  seventeen,  and  was  honoured  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Same,  in  Cephallenia,  as  a  god.  A  temple  was  consecrated 
to  him,  and  on  every  new  moon  the  Cephallenians  met 
together  to  celebrate  his  apotheosis.  His  father  insti-uct- 
ed  him  in  the  customary  J:)ranches  of  learning  (mv  syKvuXiov 
TTo^ihlccv],  and  in  the  philosophy  of  Plato.  He  was  the 
founder  of  the  Monadic  knowledge,  and  of  the  heresy  of 
the  Carpocratians.  His  works  were  extant  in  the  time  of 
Clement,  who  quotes  a  passage  from  a  treatise  concerning 
justice,  the  object  of  which  is  to  shew  that  the  institution 
of  marriage  is  at  variance  with  the  justice  of  God,  who 
meant  all  things  to  be  possessed  in  common.  The  light 
of  the  sun  is  common  to  all;  sight  is  common  to  all. 
Human  laws  introduced  property,  and  consequently  in- 
justice, by  interfering  with  the  community  intended  by 
God. 

Clement  says,  that  the  Carpocratians  were  guilty  of  the 
most  horrible  excesses  at  their  meetings.  These  excesses 
appear  to  have  brought  the  Christian  Agapse  into  dis- 
repute, and  to  have  occasioned  their  discontinuance. — 
Clemens  Alexandrlnus  ;  Bp.  Kays  Edition. 

CARRANZA,    BARTHOLOMEW. 

Bartholomew  Carranza  was  born  of  an  ancient  and 
noble  family,  at  Miranda,  in  Navarre,  in  1503.     After 


454  CARRANZA. 

studying  in  the  university  of  Alcala,  he  entered  among 
the  Dominicans  of  the  Castile,  and  taught  theology  with 
so  much  reputation  at  Valladolid,  that  he  was  sent  by 
Charles  V.  in  1546  to  the  council  of  Trent,  where  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  the  earnestness  with  which  he 
maintained  the  duty  of  clerical  residence.  While  he  was 
at  the  council  of  Trent  he  wrote  a  discourse  on  the  resi- 
dence of  Bishops,  printed  at  Venice,  1547,  and  afterwards 
in  1562.  He  asserted  that  it  was  jure  divino,  and  treated 
the  other  opinion  as  diabolical.  When  Philip  of  Austria, 
afterwards  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  who  had  been  his  pupil, 
visited  England  for  the  purpose  of  espousing  Queen  Mary, 
he  took  Carranza  wdth  him,  and  the  Queen  appointed  him 
her  confessor,  and  urged  him  to  use  his  best  exertions  to 
bring  back  her  protestant  subjects  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  ;  a  commission  which  he  fulfilled  with  more  zeal 
than  charity.  Philip  soon  afterwards,  in  1557,  made  him 
Archbishop  of  Toledo,  an  elevation  which  he  very  reluc- 
tantly accepted. 

The  suspicion  that  Charles  V.  did  not  die  a  good 
Catholic,  fell  upon  Carranza.  The  Inquisition  seized 
upon  him  in  1559  for  a  heretic  ;  and  his  process  w^as  kept 
on  foot  in  Spain  till  the  year  1567.  In  that  year  he  ap- 
pealed to  the  Pope,  and  was  carried  to  Rome  under  a 
sure  guard,  and  put  into  the  prisons  of  the  Inquisition, 
where  he  suffered  a  great  deal  during  the  ten  years  that 
they  kept  him  there.  At  last  sentence  was  given  against 
him  in  1576,  setting  forth,  that  though  they  had  no 
certain  proofs  of  his  being  a  heretic,  yet,  considering  the 
strong  presumptions  which  there  were  against  him,  he 
should  make  a  solemn  abjuration  of  the  errors  of  which 
he  was  accused.  Having  obeyed  this  order  with  sub- 
mission, he  was  sent  to  the  Convent  of  Minerva,  where 
he  died  soon  after,  May  2,  1576,  aged  72  years.  At  his 
death  he  gave  evidence  of  his  catholicity,  and  his  humility, 
publicly  declaring,  in  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Sacrament, 
which  he  was  going  to  receive,  that  he  never  held  any 
heretical  opinions  ;  and  yet  that  he  believed  the  sentence 


CARRANZA.  455 

given  against  him  was  just,  in  consequence  of  what  was 
alleged  and  proved.  Out  of  an  excess  of  charity  and  hu- 
mility, he  was  willing  to  excuse  his  judges,  who  accused 
themselves,  in  owning  by  their  sentence  that  they  had  no 
proofs  against  him,  only  simple  presumptions.  Justice 
was  afterwards  done  to  his  memory,  which  has  been  held 
in  esteem  and  veneration  among  pious  and  learned  men. 

Carranza's  principal  work  is,  his  Sum  of  the  Councils, 
which  is  well  known,  and  has  been  often  printed :  a 
work  so  much  the  more  useful,  by  how  much  it  contains 
so  gi'eat  a  variety  in  so  small  a  volume.  His  Spanish 
Catechism  was  censured  by  the  Inquisition  of  Spain :  how- 
ever, when  it  was  carried  to  the  congregation  of  the  depu- 
ties of  the  council  of  Trent,  who  were  to  examine  books, 
in  1563,  it  was  approved  by  them,  and  orders  were  given 
to  draw  up  an  attestation  in  form.  But  when  this  was 
known  in  Spain,  the  Count  de  Lerma  complained  to  the 
fathers  of  the  congregation,  of  their  passing  such  a  judg- 
ment upon  Carranza's  book,  and  desired  them  to  revoke 
it.  When  the  congregation  would  not  do  this,  the  Bishop 
of  Lerida,  either  urged  on  by  the  Count,  or  of  his  own 
head,  railed  at  them  for  their  judgment,  aud  produced 
passages  out  of  the  book,  which,  in  the  sense  that  he  put 
upon  them,  seemed  to  deserve  censure,  and  so  he  accused 
the  deputies  of  the  congregation.  Upon  this  the  chairman 
of  the  congregation  complained  to  the  legates,  and  desired 
reparation  for  himself  and  his  colleagues,  protesting  that 
he  would  not  assist  at  any  public  action  until  they  had 
proper  satisfaction  given  them.  Morone  reconciled  their 
difference,  by  ordering,  that  no  copies  should  be  given  of 
their  attestation ;  and  that  the  Bishop  of  Lerida  should 
make  his  excuses  to  the  deputies  of  the  congregation. 
The  Count  then  took  away  the  attestation,  which  was  put 
into  the  agent  of  Toledos  hands  ;  and  so  the  matter  was 
laid  asleep. 

He  wrote,  among  other  works,  1.  Commentarios  sobre 
el  Catechismo  Christiano,  Antwerp,  1558,  folio;  this  was 
the  work  that  caused  him  so  much  persecution ;  it  was 


456  CARTE. 

placed  by  the  Inquisition  in  the  Index  Expurgatorius. 
*2.  Summa  Consiliorum,  Venice,  1546,  8vo.  3.  De  Neces- 
saria  residentia  Episcoporum  et  aliorum  Pastorum,  ibid. 
1547,  1562,  8vo. — Dupin.    Baijle. 


CARSTAEES,  WILLIAM. 

Wflliam  Carstares  was  born  at  Glasgow,  in  1649.  He 
was  educated  at  Edinburgh  and  Utrecht.  While  abroad, 
he  was  introduced  to  the  Prince  of  Orange,  who  often 
consulted  him  upon  the  state  of  Britain.  After  his 
return  to  Scotland,  Carstares  entered  into  orders ;  but  his 
bias  being  to  politics,  he  set  out  again  for  Holland.  On 
his  way  he  stopped  in  London,  and  being  seized  as  a 
disaffected  person,  connected  with  the  Rye-house  con- 
spirators, was  sent  to  Scotland  for  trial.  Here  he  was 
put  to  the  torture,  which  he  endured  with  fortitude ;  but 
afterwards  made  a  confession,  and  was  discharged.  He 
then  went  to  Holland,  and  remained  there  till  1688,  when 
he  accompanied  the  Prince  of  Orange  to  England,  and 
afterwards  was  appointed  King's  chaplain  for  Scotland. 
In  1704  he  was  made  professor  of  divinity  in  the  univer- 
sity of  Edinburgh,  of  which  he  soon  afterwards  became 
principal.  When  the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms  was 
projected,  he  supported  that  measure  with  great  zeal,  and 
promoted  it  by  his  interest.  He  died  in  1715.  His 
letters  and  state  papers  were  printed  in  1774,  in  one  vol. 
4  to. — Wathins. 

CARTE,  THOMAS. 

Thomas  Carte  was  born  at  Clifton,  in  Warwickshire, 
in  1686.  He  was  admitted  of  University  College,  Ox- 
ford, in  1698,  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  his  age.  He 
took  his  degree  of  B.A.  January,  1702  ;  after  which  he 
was  incorporated  at  Cambridge,  where  he  became  M.A.  in 
1706.      In   1712  he   made  the  tour  of  Europe  with  a 


CARTE.  457 

nobleman,  and  on  his  return  entered  into  orders,  and  was 
appointed  reader  of  the  Abbey  Church  at  Bath ;  where, 
on  January  30,  1714,  he  preached  a  sermon  in  which  he 
took  occasion  to  vindicate  Charles  I.  from  aspersions  cast 
upon  his  memory  with  regard  to  the  Irish  rebellion. 
This  engaged  him  in  a  controversy  with  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Chandler,  and  gave  rise  to  Carte's  first  publication, 
entitled,  The  Irish  Massacre  set  in  a  clear  light,  &c.,  which 
is  inserted  in  Lord  Somers's  Tracts.  Upon  the  accession 
of  George  L,  Carte  declined  to  take  the  oaths  to  the  new 
government.  At  this  time  Collier  was  accustomed  to  preach 
to  a  Non-juring  congregation  in  an  upper  room  of  a  house 
in  Broad-Street :  and  Carte  appears  on  some  occasions  to 
have  assisted  him  in  his  labours.  On  the  Sunday  he  also 
solemnized  divine  service  in  his  own  family.  In  1715  he 
was  obliged  to  conceal  himself,  from  an  active  search  of 
the  King's  troops,  in  the>  house  of  Mr.  Badger,  the  curate 
of  Coleshill.  In  the  year  172'2  a  charge  of  treason  was 
alleged  against  him,  a  reward  of  £1000  being  ofiFered  for 
his  apprehension.  To  avoid  a  prosecution  he  escaped  to 
France,  where  he  resided  under  the  assumed  name  of 
Philips,  spending  his  time  in  laborious  study,  various 
pubhc  and  private  libraries  being  opened  to  his  researches. 
His  great  works,  The  Life  of  the  Duke  of  Ormond,  and 
The  History  of  England,  are  now  much  better  known 
and  much  more  valued  than  they  were  at  the  time  of,  and 
many  years  subsequent  to,  their  publication.  Queen 
Caroline  obtained  permission  for  him  to  return  to  Eng- 
land, sometime  between  the  years  17-28  and  ]  730.  Falling 
under  suspicion  in  ]  744,  he  was  taken  into  custody  :  but 
his  liberation  was  soon  accomplished.  The  Duke  of 
Newcastle  asked  him,  during  the  examination  to  which  he 
was  subjected,  whether  he  were  not  a  bishop  ?  "  No,  my 
Lord,"  he  replied,  "  there  are  no  bishops  in  England  but 
what  are  made  by  your  grace ;  and  I  am  sure  I  have 
no  reason  to  expect  that  honour."  The  first  volume  of 
his  History  of  England  was  finished  in  1747  :  and  its 

VOL.  III.  2  R 


458  CARTWRIGHT. 

credit  was  very  materially  damaged  by  a  note  respecting 
the  King's  Evil.  An  account  is  given  of  an  individual, 
who  went  over  to  the  Pretender  in  1716,  to  be  touched 
for  the  disease,  according  to  the  custom  in  such  cases, 
and  who,  as  was  alleged,  was  cured  of  the  malady  under 
which  he  laboured.  The  author  was  sharply  attacked  on 
account  of  this  note.  In  his  reply  he  states,  that  having 
occasion  to  speak  of  the  royal  unction,  he  was  led  to  notice 
the  extraordinary  effects  ascribed  to  it  by  certain  writers  : 
and  that  the  obnoxious  note  was  inserted  in  order  to  shew, 
that  the  supposed  sanative  virtue  in  the  royal  touch  was 
erroneously  ascribed  to  the  anointing.  In  consequence 
of  this  note,  the  history  did  not  then  meet  with  that  ap- 
proval which  it  so  well  merited.  The  author  died  in  the 
year  1754,  at  Caldecot  House,  near  Abingdon,  Berks. — 
Nichols  s  Bowyer.     Lathbury. 


CAETWRIGHT,    THOMAS. 

Thomas  Cartweight  was  born  in  Hertfordshire  about 
the  year  1535,  and  was  admitted  into  St.  John's  College, 
Cambridge,  in  the  year  1550.  But  upon  the  death  of 
Edward  VI.,  as  he  was  favourable  to  the  reformation,  and 
not  prepared  for  martyrdom,  he  left  the  university  and 
became  a  barrister's  clerk.  At  the  beginning  of  Elizabeth's 
reign  he  returned  to  the  university,  aad,  in  1560,  became 
a  fellow  of  St.  John's.  About  three  years  afterwards  he 
was  removed  to  a  fellowship  at  Trinity  College,  of  which 
he  became  one  of  the  senior  fellows.  In  1 564,  when  Queen 
Elizabeth  visited  the  university,  he  appears  to  have 
distinguished  himself  in  the  disputations  held  before  her 
majesty.  He  took  his  B.D.  degree  in  1567,  and  three 
years  after  was  chosen  Lady  Mai'garet's  divinity  reader. 

The  university  was  at  this  time  di\dded  into  three  great 
parties,  the  Catholics  who  conformed  to  the  Church, 
though  they  thought  the  reformation  had  gone  too  far, 


CARTWRIGHT.  459 

the  moderate  reformers,  who,  though  they  thought  that 
the  reformation  might  have  been  carried  further,  yet 
dreaded  a  relapse  into  Romanism,  and  therefore  defended 
the  existing  order  of  things,  and  these  were  the  govern- 
ment men  ; — and  the  ultra-protestants,  who,  thinking  the 
reformation  had  not  gone  far  enough,  thought  it  to  be  their 
duty  to  urge  the  government  to  such  a  reformation,  in 
their  sense  of  the  word,  as  would  have  entirely  overthrown 
the  Church,  and  have  placed  religion  on  the  footing  of 
the  Calvinistic  sects  upon  the  continent. 

To  the  latter  party  Mr.  Cartwright  was  attached,  and, 
as  it  asserted  a  plain,  bold,  and  intelligible  principle,  it 
was  the  party  which  the  majority  of  the  younger  students 
supported. 

That  Cartwright  endeavoured  to  form  a  party,  and  that 
this  party  vvas  induced  to  proceed  to  great  lengths,  is  an 
indisputable  fact,  and  t^  this  fact  is  attributable  perhaps 
the  severity  of  the  treatment  he  met  with  from  the  heads 
of  houses  and  the  university.  We  are  told  by  Sir  George 
Paul,  that  one  day  he  and  his  adherents  so  vehemently 
inveighed  against  the  surplice  that,  in  Trinity  College,  at 
evening  prayer,  the  fellows  and  students,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  three  persons,  appeared  in  chapel,  contrary  to  the 
statutes,  without  their  surplices  When,  in  a  revolutionary 
age,  a  person  of  his  standing  and  station  instigated  the 
young  men  tbus  to  violate  their  oaths  and  transgress  the 
statutes  of  their  college,  we  must  not  be  surprised  at  the 
authorities  being  anxious  to  get  rid  of  him.  It  seems 
strange  that  he  should  not  have  perceived,  that,  if  the 
wearing  of  the  surplice  were  a  superstition,  the  breaking 
of  statutes  which  the  students  were  sworn  to  obey  was  a 
sin,  to  commit  which  was  far  more  perilous  to  the  soul 
than  a  superstitious  observance.  What  is  recorded  was  a 
veiT  glariug  violation  of  discipline,  but  the  fellow  and 
professor  who  encourage  the  young  men  in  such  conduct 
as  this,  must  have  eucouraged  minor  violations  of  the  sta- 
tutes on  other  occasions. 

It  is  important  to  state  the  opinions  for  which  Mr.  Cart 


460  CARTWRIGHT. 

Wright  was  expelled  from  the  university.  They  are  those 
which  have  been  subsequently  held  by  men  who  have 
risen,  though  improperly,  to  high  stations  in  the  Church, 
but  they  are  opinions  to  which  the  Elizabethan  reformers 
were  opposed.  He  maintained  that  in  reforming  the 
Church,  it  was  necessary  to  reduce  all  things  to  the  apos- 
tolical institution. — That  no  one  ought  to  be  admitted  into 
the  Christian  ministry  who  was  unable  to  preach. — That 
those  only  who  ministered  the  word  ought  to  pray  publicly 
in  the  Church,  or  administer  the  Sacraments. — That  popish 
ordinations  were  not  valid  — That  only  canonical  Scripture 
ought  to  be  read  publicly  in  the  Church. — That  the  public 
liturgy  ought  to  be  so  framed  that  there  might  be  no  pri- 
vate praying  or  reading  in  the  Church,  but  that  all  the 
people  should  attend  to  the  prayers  of  the  minister. — 
That  the  service  of  burying  the  dead  did  not  belong  any 
more  to  the  ministerial  office  than  to  the  rest  of  the 
Church. — That  equal  reverence  was  due  to  all  canonical 
Scripture,  and  to  all  the  names  of  God;  there  was,  there- 
fore, no  reason  why  the  people  should  stand  at  the  reading 
of  the  Gospel,  or  bow  at  the  name  of  Jesus. — That  it  was 
as  lawful  to  sit  at  the  Lord's  table  as  to  kneel  or  stand. — 
That  the  Lord's  Supper  ought  not  to  be  administered  in 
private,  nor  haptism  administered  by  women  or  laymen. — 
That  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism  was  superstitious, — 
That  it  was  reasonable  and  proper  that  the  parent  should 
offer  his  own  child  to  baptism,  making  confession  of  that 
faith  in  which  he  intended  to  educate  it,  without  being 
obliged  to  answer  in  the  child's  name,  "  I  will,"  "  I  will 
not,"  "  I  believe,"  &c.,  nor  ought  women  or  persons  under 
age  to  be  sponsors. — That,  in  giving  names  to  children,  it 
was  convenient  to  avoid  paganism,  as  well  as  the  names 
and  offices  of  Christ  and  angels. — That  it  was  papistical 
to  forbid  marriages  at  any  particular  time  of  the  year,  and 
to  grant  licenses  at  those  times  was  intolerable. — That 
private  marriages,  or  such  as  were  not  published  in  the 
coDgregation,  were  highly  inconvenient. — That  the  obser- 
vation of  Lent,  and  fasting  on  Fridays  and  Saturdays, 


CARTWRIGHT.  461 

was  superstitious. — That  the  observation  of  festivals,  and 
trading  or  keeping  markets  on  the  Lord's-day,  were  unlaw- 
ful.— That,  in  the  ordination  of  ministers,  pronouncing 
the  words,  "  Receive  thou  the  Holy  Ghost,"  was  both 
ridiculous  and  wicked. — That  kings  and  bishops  ought 
not  to  be  anointed. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  the  converse  of  these  sen- 
timents was  held  as  Anglican  by  the  English  reformers ; 
and  that  by  them  these  opinions  were  declared  to  be 
*' dangerous  and  seditious."  Still  it  will  appear  that,  how- 
ever erroneous  were  the  opinions  of  Cartwright,  he  was 
only  carrying  out  legitimately  and  logically  the  principles 
of  the  foreign  reformers,  too  much  admired  by  many  in 
England,  and  that  he  stated  merely  the  conclusions  drawn 
by  his  private  judgment  from  the  Bible  and  the  Bible 
only. 

Still  it  was  not,  of  course,  to  be  tolerated,  that  a  person 
of  Cartwright's  ability  and  influence  should  remain  in 
office  to  inflame  the  minds  of  the  younger  members  of  the 
university  against  the  institutions  of  the  land ;  and  we 
find  even  Grindal,  at  that  time  Archbishop  of  York,  whose 
opinions  could  not  have  differed  much,  if  at  all,  from  those 
of  Cartwright,  writing  to  Sir  William  Cecil,  the  chancellor 
of  the  university,  on  the  *23rd  of  June,  1570,  and  request- 
ing him  to  take  some  speedy  course  against  Cartwright ; 
alleging  that  the  youth  of  the  university,  who  frequented 
his  lectures  in  gi*eat  numbers,  were  "in  danger  to  be 
poisoned  with  a  love  of  contention  and  a  liking  of  novelty." 

Dr.  Whitgift,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was 
Cartwright's  chief  opponent  at  the  university.  He  wrote 
to  the  chancellor,  communicating  to  him  not  only  what 
Cartwright  had  openly  taught,  but  also  what  he  had  said 
to  him  in  private  conference.  Cartwright  vindicated  his 
conduct  in  a  letter  to  Sir  William  Cecil,  in  which  he 
declared  his  extreme  aversion  to  every  thing  that  was 
seditious  and  contentious,  and  affirmed  that  he  had  taught 
nothing  but  what  naturally  flowed  from  the  text  concerning 
2k2 


46Q  CARTWEIGHT. 

which  he  had  treated.  He  solicited  the  protection  of 
the  chancellor,  so  far  as  his  cause  was  just ;  and  trans- 
mitted to  him  a  testimonial  of  his  innocence,  signed  by 
several  learned  members  of  the  university,  and  in  which 
his  abilities,  learning,  and  integrity,  were  spoken  of  in 
very  high  terms.  After  this  he  was  cited  to  appear  before 
Dr.  Mey,  the  vice-chancellor,  and  some  of  the  heads  of 
houses,  and  was  examined  upon  sundry  articles  of  doctrine 
said  to  be'  delivered  by  him  in  his  public  lectures,  and 
which  were  afi&rmed  to  be  contrary  to  the  religion  received 
and  allowed  by  public  authority  in  the  realm  of  England  ; 
and  it  was  demanded  of  him,  whether  he  would  stand 
to  those  opinions  and  doctrines,  or  whether  he  would 
renounce  them.  Cartwright  desired  that  he  might  be 
permitted  to  commit  to  writing  what  his  judgment  was 
upon  the  points  in  controversy ;  which  being  assented  to, 
he  drew  up  six  propositions,  which  he  subscribed  with 
his  own  hand.  Other  propositions  were  collected  out  of 
Cartwright's  lectureo,  and  sent  to  court  by  Dr.  Whitgift ; 
and  he  was  forbidden  by  the  vice-chancellor  and  heads  of 
the  university  to  read  any  more  lectures  till  they  should 
receive  some  satisfaction  that  he  would  not  continue  to 
propagate  the  same  opinions.  In  1571,  when  Dr.  Whit- 
gift became  vice-chancellor  of  the  university,  Cartwright 
was  deprived  of  his  place  of  Margaret  professor ;  and  in 
the  following  year  he  was  also  deprived  of  his  fellowship. 

Of  these  circumstances  Dr.  Whitgift  gave  an  account  in 
the  following  letter  to  Archbishop  Parker : — 

"  My  duty  most  humbly  to  your  grace  remembered.  I 
am  constrained  sooner  to  trouble  you  than  I  had  purposed. 
I  have  pronounced  Mr.  Cartwright  to  be  no  fellow  here ; 
because,  contrary  to  the  express  words  of  his  oath,  and 
plain  statute  of  this  college,  he  hath  continued  here 
above  his  time,  not  being  a  full  minister.  Which  truly 
I  did  not  know,  until  now  of  late ;  for  if  I  had  known 
it  before,  I  might  have  eased  myself  of  much  trouble,  and 
the  college  of  great  contention.     Hitherto,  I  thank  God, 


CARTWRIGHT.  463 

it  hath  been  as  quiet  a  college  as  any  at  Cambridge.  Now 
there  are  marvellous  troubles  and  contentions,  which  I 
can  ascribe  to  no  cause  so  much  as  to  Mr.  Cartwright's 
presence  here.  I  doubt  he  will  make  some  friends  at  court 
to  maintain  him ;  and  I  have  some  understanding  that  he 
goeth  about  the  same.  I  beseech  your  grace,  let  me  have 
your  assistance,  either  by  your  letters  to  my  Lord  Burghley, 
or  my  Lord  of  Leicester,  or  both ;  or  by  any  other  means 
you  think  best.  Their  whole  purpose  is  to  make  me  weary, 
because  they  take  me  to  be  an  enemy  to  their  factious- 
ness and  lewd  liberty.  If  they  may  triumph  over  me 
once,  peradventure  the  state  here  will  be  intolerable ;  but 
I  doubt  not  of  your  graces  full  assistance.  Mr.  Cartwright 
is  flatly  perjured  !  And  I  am  verily  persuaded  that  it  is 
God's  just  judgment  that  he  should  be  so  punished, 
for  not  being  minister,  having  so  greatly  defaced  the 
ministry."  / 

Cartwright  was  now  at  the  head  of  an  influential  party, 
and  his  loss  of  a  fellowship  was  made  up  to  it  by  the 
generous  patronage  he  every  where  received.  This  is  shewn 
by  the  answer  returned  by  Whitgift  to  a  captious  remark 
of  Cartwright's,  "  What  commodities  you  want  that  I  have 
I  cannot  conjecture.  Your  meat  and  drink  is  provided  with 
less  trouble  and  charges  to  you,  and  in  a  more  delicate  and 
dainty  manner  than  mine  is  :  your  ease  and  pleasure  ten 
times  more ;  you  do  what  you  list ;  go  when  you  list ;  come 
when  you  list;  speak  when  you  list  at  your  pleasure. 
What  would  you  have  more  ?  I  know  not  why  you  should 
complain,  except  you  be  of  the  same  disposition  with  the 
Franciscan  Friars,  who,  when  they  had  filled  their  bellies 
at  other  men's  tables,  were  wont  to  cry  out  and  say.  How 
many  things  are  we  forced  to  endure?  Some  men  are  de- 
lighted to  be  fed  at  other  men's  tables,  and  prefer  popular 
fame  before  gold  and  silver  !" 

He  now  passed  over  to  the  continent,  where  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  most  celebrated  divines  in  the  several 
protestant  universities  of  Europe,  with  many  of  whom  he 
established  a  correspondence.     He  was  also  chosen  minis- 


464  GARTWRIGHT. 

ter  to  the  English  merchants  at  Antwerp,  and|  afterwards 
at  Middleburgh,  where  he  continued  two  years.  He  then, 
in  compHance  with  the  wishes  of  his  friends,  returned  to 
England.  At  this  time  the  Lord  Treasurer  proposed  to 
him  a  question,  by  his  answer  to  which  he  shewed  that, 
while  complaining  of  the  intolerance  of  the  Church  of 
England,  his  own  feelings  were  not  a  whit  more  liberal. 
The  question  proposed  was,  "  Whether  it  was  lawful  for 
one  professing  the  gospel  to  marry  a  papist?"  Mr.  Cart- 
wright  answered  decidedly  in  the  negative ;  because  he 
considered  the  match  not  only  ill  in  itself,  but  also  an 
exceeding  great  evil  in  the  sight  of  God,  as  appeared  from 
His  holy  word,  which  pronounced  it  unlawful  for  the  Israel- 
ites to  match  with  heathens.  How  great  an  evil  it  was  in 
itself  was  manifest  from  God  having  put  perpetual  enmity 
between  the  seed  of  the  woman  and  seed  of  the  serpent ; 
also  from  those  places  where  God  forbad  the  children  of 
Israel  holding  familiar  intercourse  with  the  heathen ; 
clearly  showing  against  whom  the  decree  of  God  was 
directly  opposed.  With  those,  therefore,  true  Christians 
might  not  have  special  fellowship  so  as  to  unite  them- 
selves with  them  in  marriage.  As  to  Catholics  being 
called  Christians  by  common  profession,  and  their  being 
much  better  than  idolatrous  heathens,  and  less  dangerous 
in  this  matter,  both  these  points,  being  the  substance  of 
the  treaty,  had  been  sufficiently  answered.  "  For  my 
part,"  he  added,  "  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  it  is  directly 
forbidden  in  Scripture  that  any  who  profess  religion 
according  to  the  word  of  God  should  marry  with  those 
who  profess  religion  after  the  manner  of  the  Church  of 
Rome." 

Field  and  Wilcox,  authors  of  An  Admonition  to  the 
Parliament,  on  attempting  to  present  it,  were  committied 
to  Newgate,  on  the  2nd  of  October,  1572. 

An  outline  of  the  admonition  is  given  by  Mr.  Soames 
in  his  History  of  the  Reformation ;  he  observes,  that  the 
authors  had  no  thought  of  showing  the  least  indulgence 
to  any  but  themselves.     Their  abhorrence  of  popery  was 


CARTWRIGHT.  465 

boundless,  and  of  the  national  hierarchj  equally  so.  They 
wam  "  the  lordly  lords,  archbishops,  bishops,  suffragans, 
deans,  doctors,  archdeacons,  chancellors,  and  the  rest  of 
that  proud  generation,"  that  their  "  kingdom  must  come 
down,  hold  they  never  so  hard,  because  their  tyrannous 
lordship  cannot  stand  with  Christ's  kingdom."  The 
nation,  it  is  asserted,  had  neither  '*  a  right  ministry,"  nor 
"  a  right  government  of  the  Church  according  to  Scripture," 
and  hence  could  not  long  continue  as  it  was,  without 
being  overtaken  by  God's  judgments.  From  the  '*  true 
platform  of  a  Church  reformed,"  now  laid  before  it. 
Parliament  might  "  learn  with  perfect  hatred  to  detest," 
existing  institutions,  and  to  "  endeavour  that  Christ 
might  rule  and  reign  by  the  sceptre  of  His  word  only." 
The  ministry  required  a  trial  both  of  "  ability  to  instruct, 
and  of  godly  conversation ;"  whereas  it  came  from  indi- 
vidual recommendations,  p^'ocuring  free  reception  for  "  tag 
and  rag,  learned  and  unlearned,  the  basest  of  the  people." 
Formerly  ministers  taught  others,  now  they  need  instruc- 
tion themselves,  and  "like  young  children,  must  learn 
catechisms."  The  congi'egation  formerly  called  a  minister 
who  had  been  elected  by  the  whole  Church ;  now,  epis- 
copal authority  alone  thrusts  one  upon  it  who  owes  the 
benefice  to  money,  favour,  or  unlawful  importunity. 
Exceptions  are  also  taken  to  ordinations  without  a  par- 
ticular charge,  and  in  any  other  way  than  by  imposition 
of  hands  of  the  "  eldership."  They  assert  that  clergymen 
w^ere  ordained  with  alb,  surplice,  vestment,  and  pastoral 
staff.  Use  at  ordinations  of  the  words,  Receive  the  Holy 
GJiost,  is  branded  as  "  ridiculous  and  blasphemous." 
Objections  follow  to  non-residence,  pluralities,  the  admis- 
sion of  clergymen  quahfied  only  to  read,  and  the  prohibi- 
tion of  preaching  without  episcopal  license.  Cap,  surplice, 
and  tippet  are  disclaimed  as  principal  objects  of  contention, 
though  pronounced  unsuitable  for  a  minister,  especially 
the  surplice,  "  because  such  hurtful  ceremonies  are  so 
much  more  dangerous,  as  they  do  approach  nearer  the 
service  and  worship  of  God."    Ministers,  it  is  said,  were 


466  CARTWRIGHT. 

anciently  "  known  by  voice,  learning,  and  doctrine  ;"  now 
they  are  distinguished  by  popish  and  anti-christian  appa- 
rel," to  which  "  as  garments  of  the  idol,   of  Balaamites,  of 
popish  priests,   enemies  to   God,   and  all  Christians,  we 
should  say,   Avaunt,  get  thee  hence."     Edification  is  in 
no  such  distinctions,    but  a  "  shew  of  evil,    seeing   the 
popish  j)riesthood  is  evil ;    discord  is  wrought.   Gospel- 
preaching  is  hindered,"  "the  memoiy  of  Egypt,"  and  of 
former  abominations  is  kept  up,  "  the  ministry  is  brought 
into  contempt,  the  weak  are  offended,  the  obstinate  encou- 
raged ;"  ministers  are  said  formerly  to  have  preached  the 
word  only,  as  God  gave  utterance  :  now  they  read  homilies, 
articles,  injunctions,  &c."     Formerly,  the  ministry  "was 
painful,  now,  gainful :  then,  poor  and  ignominious,  now, 
rich  and  glorious."     It  raises  men  to  "livings  and  offices, 
by  antichrist  devised,  but  in  Christ's  word  forbidden,  as 
Metropolitan,    Archbishop,   Lord's    Grace,   Lord   Bishop, 
Suffragan,  Dean,  Archdeacon,  Prelate  of  the  Garter,  Earl, 
Count  Palatine,   Honour,  High  Commissioner,  Justice  of 
the   Peace."      Scripture   would   have    "  seniors  in   every 
Church,  the  pope  hath  brought  in  the  lordship  of  one 
man    over    sundry    Churches,    yea,    over   many   shires." 
Primitive  usage  demands   "  equality  of  ministers,  instead 
of  an  archbishop,  or  lord  bishop."     These  two,  with  all 
their  inferior  officers,   "  are  drawn,"  both  as  to  name  and 
function,   "out  of  the  popes  shop;"   and  the  canon-law 
which  guides  them,  is  "  Anti-christian,  devilish,  and  con- 
trary to  Scripture."     Their  power  is  no  more  warranted 
by  God's  word,  than  the  pope's;  dominion  of  one  minister 
over  another,  being  "unlawful  and  expressly  forbidden" 
by  Holy  Writ. 

From  the  clergy  the  admonition  passes  on  to  the  Liturgy, 
first  complaining,  as  an  innovation,  of  any  written  tram- 
mels for  ministerial  devotion.  Exceptions  are  then  taken 
to  prayer  against  tempest,  when  none  seems  at  hand  ;  to 
the  Magnificat,  and  other  scriptural  hymns,  as  introduced 
for  no  conceivable  purpose  but  to  honour  the  Virgin,  the 
Baptist,  or  similar  personages,  therefore  profanations  of 


CARTWPJGHT.  467 

Scripture;  to  baptism  by  women,  or  deacons;  to  tbe 
administration  of  sacraments  in  private  places,  and  to  the 
churching  service,  as  "  smelling  of  Jewish  purification." 
Holidays  are  denounced  as  popish,  sermons  in  defence  of 
established  institutions  and  ceremonies,  are  invidiously 
contrasted  with  doctrine  purely  scriptural. 

Excitement  being  vitally  important  to  puritanism, 
even  administration  of  the  sacraments  without  preaching, 
is  disparaged.  Mere  reading  is  pronounced  no  "  feed- 
ing," but  as  bad,  or  worse,  than  stage-playing,  because 
actors  learn  their  parts.  Many  of  the  clergy,  it  is  assert- 
ed, could  scarcely  read  what  was  prescribed,  with  book 
before  them.  "  These,"  it  is  immediately  added,  "  are 
empty  feeders,  dark  eyes,  ill  workmen  to  hasten  the 
Lord's  harvest,  messengers  that  cannot  call,  prophets 
that  cannot  declare  the  will  of  the  Lord,  unsavoury  salt, 
blind  guides,  sleepy  watchmen,  untrusty  dispensers  of 
God's  secrets,  evil  dividers  of  the  Word,  weak  to  withstand 
the  adversary,  not  able  to  confute."  In  fine,  reading 
ministers  are  placed  upon  a  level  with  popish  priests, 
whose  pastoral  qualifications  were  deemed  sufficient,  when 
they  could  fairly  go  through  that  which  lay  before  them  in 
the  service-book. 

The  diaconate,  as  established  in  the  Catholic  church, 
is  denounced  as  a  "  foul"  perversion.  In  primitive 
times  every  church  had  its  deacons,  but  only  as  col- 
lectors and  dispensers  of  alms ;  now,  their  office  is  "a 
step  to  the  ministry,  nay  rather,  a  mere  order  of  priest- 
hood." 

Objections  to  the  communion-service  are  hastily  pre- 
faced by  the  groundless  mention  of  an  introite,  originating 
with  Pope  Celestine.  Primitive  usage  is -then  pronounc- 
ed adverse  to  the  reading  of  "  fragments"  from  the 
Epistle  and  Gospel,  and  of  the  Nicene  Creed.  But  it 
is  claimed  for  the  examination  of  communicants.  The 
prevailing  usage  of  administering  with  wafer-cakes  next 
comes  under  animadversion ;  nor  does  the  prescribed 
posture    of   receiving   escape;    sitting,    it  is  maintained, 


468  CARTWRIGHT. 

being  that  of  antiquity.  Fault  is  found  with  the  pre- 
scribed words,  as  having  papistical  additions  to  those 
which  our  Lord  used,  and  as  having  Take^thou,  eat  thou, 
instead  of  Take  ye,  eat  ye.  Other  discrepancies  from 
primitive  communions  are  found  in  the  hymn,  Glory  to 
God  in  the  highest,  in  the  admission  of  sinners  to  the 
table,  in  the  pomp  of  administration,  and  in  every 
particular  which  our  Lord  is  not  known  to  have  in- 
stituted. 

In  baptism,  exceptions  are  taken  to  surplices,  the  in- 
terrogatories, the  sponsors  themselves,  fonts,  and  the  sign 
of  a  cross  ;  which  last  is  stigmatized  as  the  "  superstitious 
and  wicked  institution  of  a  new  sacrament." 

After  this  long  array  of  objecti(ms,  the  monitors  tell 
parliament,  "  Instead  of  chancellors,  archdeacons,  offi- 
cials, commissaries,  proctors,  doctors,  summoners,  church- 
wardens, and  such  like,  you  have  to  place  in  fevery  con- 
gregation a  lawful  and  godly  seignory."  Discipline  was 
to  be  administered  chiefly  by  three  orders,  namely, 
ministers,  that  is  to  say,  preachers,  or  pastors ;  seniors, 
or  elders  ;  and  deacons  :  a  form  of  government  superseded 
by  the  pope.  In  primitive  times,  when  it  existed,  just 
sentences  were  pronounced,  as  might  be  expected  from 
*'  a  zealous  and  godly  company,"  but  "  hatred,  favour, 
affection,  or  money,"  may  and  do  warp  the  judgments  of 
individuals.  The  ancient  phrase  was,  "Tell  the  Church," 
the  modern,  "  Complain  to  my  lord's  grace,  Primate 
and  Metropolitan  of  all  England,  or  to  his  inferior, 
my  Lord  Bishop  of  the  diocese,  if  not  to  him,  shew  the 
chancellor,  or  official,  or  commissary,  or  doctor."  The 
rule  of  "Lord  Bishops,"  their  inferior  officers,  "and 
such  ravening  rablers,"  is  denounced  as  most  horrible, 
"  spoiling  the  pastor  of  his  lawful  jurisdiction  over 
his  own  flock,  given  by  the  word,  thrusting  away  most 
sacrilegiously  that  order  which  Christ  hath  left  in  His 
Church,  and  which  the  primitive  Church  hath  used  ;" 
which  is  no  other  than  "  the  regiment  of  ministers, 
seniors,  and  deacons  jointly." 


'D' 


CARTWRIGHT.  469 

To  account  for  their  former  use  of  the  Common  Prayer, 
more  or  less  completely,  the  monitors  declare  their  con- 
formity, such  as  it  was,  to  have  flowed  from  a  desire  of 
peace,  accompanied  with  a  reverence  for  the  times  and 
persons  that  gave  rise  to  the  book.  Subscriptions  now 
required  oblige  them  to  pronounce  it  "  an  unperfect  book, 
culled  and  picked  out  of  the  popish  dunghill,  the  mass- 
book,  full  of  abominations,"  and  containing  "  many  things 
against  the  Word  of  God." 

Complaints  are  then  made  of  the  Homilies,  of  lessons 
from  the  Apocrypha,  of  using  the  term  priest,  of  the 
matrimonial  ring  as  a  sacramental  sign,  of  the  words  With 
my  body  I  thee  worship,  as  making  the  woman  an  idol, 
and  of  the  injunction  to  receive  the  communion  at  wed- 
dings. Confirmation  "  by  the  Bishop  alone  to  them  that 
lack  both  discretion  and  faith,"'  is  said  to  be  superstitious, 
and  not  agreeable  to  the,  Word  of  God,  but  popish  and 
peevish. 

The  burial  service  is  mentioned  as  if  thought  unneces- 
sary, every  Christian,  and  not  ministers  only,  being  con- 
cerned in  burying  the  dead.  The  office  it  is  alleged 
maintains  prayer  for  the  dead,  as  may  be  "  partly  gathered 
out  of  some  of  the  prayers." 

Exceptions  are  also  taken  against  various  passages  in 
the  Prayer  Book,  and  among  them,  against  jDraying  that 
*'  all  men  may  be  saved."  The  psalms  are  said  to  be 
"tossed  in  most  places  like  tennis  balls:"  and  Sunday 
amusements,  imraemoriany  in  vogue,  are  invidiously  men- 
tioned as  if  chargeable  upon  the  ecclesiastical  authorities. 
Cathedrals  are  stigmatised  as  "popish  dens,"  which,  toge- 
ther with  the  Queens  chapel,  by  their  organs  and  curious 
singing,  "  must  be  patterns  and  precedents  to  the  people 
of  all  superstitions."  The  monitors  add,  "  We  should  be 
long  to  tell  your  honours  of  cathedral  churches,  the  den?; 
aforesaid  of  all  loitering  lubbers,  where  Master  Dean, 
Master  Vice-Dean,  Master  Canons,  or  Master  Prebendaries 
the  greater,  Master  petty  Canons,  or  Canons  the  lesser, 
VOL  in.  2  s 


170  CARTWRIGHT. 

Master  Chancellor  of  the  Church,  Master  Treasurer,  or 
otherwise  called  Judas  the  purse-bearer,  the  chief  chanter, 
singing  men,  (special  favourers  of  religion,)  squeaking 
choristers,  organ-players,  gospellers,  pistellers,  pensioners, 
readers,  vergers,  &c.,  live  in  great  idleness,  and  have  their 
abiding.  If  you  would  know  whence  all  these  came,  we 
can  easily  answer  you  that  they  came  from  the  pope,  as 
out  of  the  Trojan  horse's  belly,  to  the  destruction  of  God  s 
kingdom." 

God's  word,  it  is  alleged,  forbids  the  union  of  civil  offices 
with  ecclesiastical.  Hence  clergymen  must  not  have  their 
prisons,  "  as  clinks,  gatehouses,  colehouses,  towers,  and 
castles.  This  is  to  not  have  keys,  but  swords."  The 
monitors  then  say,  "  Birds  of  the  same  feather  are 
covetous  patrons  of  benefices,  parsons,  vicars,  readers, 
parish  priests,  stipendiaries,  and  riding  chaplains,  that 
under  the  authority  of  their  masters  spoil  their  flocks 
of  the  food  of  their  souls ;  such  seek  not  the  Lord  Jesus, 
but  their  own  bellies ;  clouds  that  are  without  rain,  trees 
without  fruit,  painted  sepulchres  full  of  dead  bones,  fatted 
in  all  abundance  of  iniquity,  and  lean  locusts  in  all  feel- 
ing, knowledge,  and  sincerity." 

Subscription  to  the  doctrinal  articles  is  approved,  though 
not  altogether  without  reserve.  Claim  is  made  for  "  a 
godly  intei-pretation  in  a  point  or  two,  which  are  either 
too  sparely  or  else  too  darkly  set  down."  The  monitors, 
accordingly,  refer  their  strivings  and  sufferings  wholly  to 
resistance  of  popery,  and  a  refusal  "  to  be  stung  with  the 
tail  of  anti-christian  infection."  They  conclude  with  im- 
ploring parliament,  for  the  sake  of  God's  Church,  and  of 
the  Queen,  to  consider  and  reform  the  abuses  pointed 
oat,  so  that  "  anti  christ  might  be  turned  out  headlong, 
and  Chiist  might  reign  by  His  word." 

Notwithstanding  the  penalty  to  which  the  writers  of 
the  first  admonition  were  subjected,  Cartwright  wrote  a 
second  admonition  to  the  parliament,  with  an  humble 
petition  to  the  two  houses  for  relief  against  the  subsciip- 


CARTWRIGHT.  471 

tion  required  by  the  ecclesiastical  commissioners.  The 
same  year  Dr.  Whitgift  published  an  answer  to  the 
admonition  ;  to  which  Cartwright  published  a  reply  in 
1573  ;  and  about  this  time  a  proclamation  was  issued  for 
apprehending  him.  In  1574  Dr.  Whitgift  published,  in 
folio,  A  Defence  of  the  Answer  to  the  Admonition,  against 
the  Reply  of  T.  C.  In  1575  Cartwright  published  a 
second  reply  to  Dr.  Whitgift;  and  in  1577  appeared  the 
rest  of  the  Second  Reply  of  Thomas  Cartwright  against 
jNIaster  Doctor  Whitgift's  Answer,  touching  the  Church 
discipline.  This  seems  to  have  been  printed  in  Scotland  ; 
and  it  is  certain  that  before  its  publication  Cartwright 
had  quitted  the  kingdom. 

Of  this  controversy,  Neal,  the  Puritan  historian,  re- 
marks :  "  Mr.  Cartwright  maintained,  that  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures were  not  only  a  standard  of  doctrine,  but  of  discipline 
and  government,  and  that  the  Church  of  Christ  in  all 
ages  was  to  be  regulated  by  them.  He  was,  therefore,  for 
consulting  his  Bible  only,  and  for  reducing  all  things  as 
near  as  possible  to  the  apostolical  standard.  Dr.  Whitgift 
went  upon  a  different  principle,  and  maintained,  that, 
though  the  holy  Scriptures  were  a  perfect  rule  of  faith, 
they  were  not  designed  as  a  standard  of  Church  discipline 
or  government ;  but  that  this  was  changeable,  and  might 
be  accommodated  to  the  civil  government  we  live  under : 
that  the  apostolical  government  was  adapted  to  the 
Church  in  its  infancy,  and  under  persecution,  but  was  to 
be  enlarged  and  altered,  as  the  Church  grew  to  maturity, 
and  had  the  civil  magistrate  on  its  side.  The  doctor, 
therefore,  instead  of  reducing  the  external  policy  of  the 
Church  to  Scripture,  takes  into  his  standard  the  four 
first  centuries  after  Christ ;  and  those  customs  he  can 
trace  up  thither,  he  thinks  proper  to  be  retained,  because 
the  Church  was  then  in  its  mature  state,  and  not  yet 
under  the  power  of  anti-christ."  Cartwright  himself  had 
made  a  similar  remark,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  follow- 
ing passage  in  his  "Replie:"  "With  one  or  two  excep- 
tions, we  hear  continually  of  St.  Augustine,  St.  Ambrose, 


47^  CARTWRIGHT. 

Dionysius  Areopagite,  and  Clement,  instead  of  Isaiah 
and  Jeremiah,  St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter,  with  the  rest  of  the 
prophets  and  apostles.  I  cannot  therefore  tell  with  what 
face  we  can  call  the  papists,  from  their  antiquity,  councils, 
and  fathers,  to  a  trial  by  the  holy  Scriptures,  who,  iu 
the  controversies  among  ourselves,  fly  so  far  from  them, 
and  so  nearly  banish  them  from  deciding  all  these  con- 
troversies. If  it  be  a  sufficient  proof  to  affirm  that  such 
a  doctor  said  so,  or  such  a  council  decreed  it,  there  is 
scarcely  anything  so  true  but  I  can  impugn,  or  so  fake 
but  I  can  make  true :  by  their  means  the  principal 
grounds  of  our  faith  may  be  shaken." 

In  those  days,  the  days  of  the  Reformation,  says  the 
heretical  Archdeacon  Blackburn,  (see  his.  Life,)  "  in  those 
days  nothing  was  thought  to  be  sufficiently  confirmed  by 
Scripture  testimonies,  without  additional  vouchers  from 
the  ancient  worthies  of  the  Church ;  and,  accordingly, 
Tertullian,  Chrysostom,  Austin,  aud  Jerome,  regularly 
took  their  places  on  the  same  bench  of  judgment  with 
Paul,  Peter,  James,  and  John.  In  process  of  time,  some 
particular  pers(ms  began  to  see  into  this  mistake.  In  our 
own  country,  the  learned  Cartwright,  in  his  dispute  with 
Whitgift,  took  the  courage  to  appeal  from  the  authority  of 
the  fathers,  and  to  prescribe  them  narrower  limits  in  the 
province  of  determining  religious  controversies.  How  this 
would  be  received  in  those  days  might  be  easily  con- 
jectured without  particular  information.  The  terms  in 
which  Cartwright  had  characterized  these  venerable  doctors 
were  collected  together  in  a  book  of  Bancroft  s,  and  set  off 
with  tragical  exclamations,  as  if  they  had  been  little  less 
than  so  much  blasphemy." 

The  reader  has  now  before  him  an  account  of  the  points 
of  difference  between  the  English  reformers  and  the 
ultra-protestants ;  between  those  who  interpreted  the 
Bible  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  Church,  and  those 
who  received  the  Bible  and  the  Bible  only ;  and  these  are 
the  points  of  difference  still  existing  between  Anglo-Catho- 
lics and  their  opponents.    The  s;ime  charge  of  popery  which 


CARTWRIGHT.  473 

ultra-prolestants  bring  against  Anglo- Catholics  at  the  pre- 
sent time,  was  produced  against  them  in  the  age  of  the 
Keforraation.  This  may  be  seen  not  only  from  quotations 
already  given,  but  also  from  the  following  passage,  taken 
fi'om  the  dedication  of  Cartwrighls  work,  before  alluded 
to,  "The  Rest  of  the  Second  Replie."  Alluding  to 
Whitgift,  he  says,  "it  is  showed  in  his  book,  not  only 
that  the  doctor  hath  a  similar  cause  with  the  papists,  but 
the  very  same  cause  as  the  grossest  papists, — I  say  the 
grossest,  for  that  in  some  points,  as  of  the  Church's 
election,  and  pastoral  residence,  there  are  of  them  more 
favourable  to  the  truth  than  he,  who,  joining  with  catholic 
writers  both  old  and  of  our  time,  have  written  against  the 
estate  of  the  popish  church  in  that  behalf." 

But  even  Cartwright  himself  did  not  escape  the  charge 
of  popery  :  Dr.  Whitaker,  himself  a  puritan,  remarks,* 
"  1  have  read  a  great  p*rt  of  that  book,  the  '  Second 
Replie,'  which  Cartwright  hath  lately  set  forth.  I  pray  God 
I  may  not  live  if  ever  I  saw  any  thing  more  loosely  and 
almost  more  childishly  written.  It  is  true  that  for  words 
he  hath  gre^t  store,  and  those  both  fine  and  new :  but  for 
matter,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  he  is  altogether  barren. 
Moreover,  he  doth  not  only  think  perversely  of  the  autho- 
rity of  princes  in  causes  ecclesiastical,  but  also  flieth  into 
holds  of  the  papists,  from  whom  he  would  be  thought  to 
dissent  with  a  mortal  hatred.  But  in  this  point  he  is  not 
to  be  endured,  and  in  other  parts  he  borroweth  his  argu- 
ments from  papists.  He  playeth  with  words,  and  is  lame 
in  his  sentences,  and  is  altogether  unworthy  to  be  confuted 
by  any  man  of  learning." 

When  even  by  his  friends,  Cartwright's  Second  Replie 
was  admitted  to  be  a  failure,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  wonder 
that  Whitgift  should  leave  it  unnoticed.  His  principles 
received  their  death-blow  some  time  afterwards,  through 
the  immortal  work  of  the  judicious  Hooker. 

It  has  been  already  stated  that  Cartwright,  during  these 
controversies,   had  found   it  expedient  to  reside   abroad. 
2s  2 


474  CARTWKIGHT. 

During  his  residence  abroad,  which  lasted  for  several 
years,  he  was  admitted  to  the  intimacy  of  Beza  and 
Junius,  an  intimacy  which  only  increased  his  hostility  to 
Catholicism.  In  1577  he  was  employed  in  organizing  on 
schismatical  principles,  religious  communities  in  Jersey 
and  Guernsey,  and  in  the  same  year  married  a  sister  of 
Mr.  Stubbs. 

In  1585  he  returned  to  England,  being  ordered  to  do  so 
by  his  physicians,  on  account  of  his  declining  health.  But 
as  soon  as  he  had  landed  he  was  imprisoned,  by  order  of 
Aylmer,  Bishop  of  London.  He  was  released  from  his 
prison  by  the  interposition  of  Lord  Burghley,  and  it  is 
gratifying  to  find  that  Cartwright's  old  opponent,  Whitgift, 
now  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  interfered  in  his  favour, 
and  that  the  kindness  of  the  Archbishop  awakened  kindly 
'feelings  in  the  schismatic.  The  Archbishop  received  on 
this  occasion  the  following  letter  from  the  Earl  of  Lei- 
cester, who,  notwithstanding  his  profligacy,  was  a  patron 
of  the  puritans  : 

"  My  good  lord, — I  most  heartily  thank  you  for  your 
favourable  and  courteous  usage  of  Mr.  Cartyright,  who 
also  hath  so  exceedingly  kindly  taken  it,  as  I  assure  your 
grace  he  cannot  speak  enough  of  it.  I  trust  it  will  do  a 
great  deal  of  good ;  and  he  protesteth  and  professeth  to 
me  to  take  no  other  course  but  to  the  drawing  of  all  men 
to  the  unity  of  the  Church  :  and  that  your  grace  hath  so 
dealt  with  him,  as  no  man  shall  so  command  him  and 
dispose  of  him  as  you  shall :  and  he  means  to  let  his 
opinion  be  publicly  known  even  in  the  pulpit,  if  your 
grace  so  permit  him,  what  he  himself  would  and  all  others 
should  do  for  obedience  to  the  laws  established ;  and  if 
any  little  scruple  be,  it  is  not  great,  but  easy  to  be  re- 
formed by  your  grace,  whom  I  do  most  heartily  entreat  to 
continue  your  favour  and  countenance  towards  him,  with 
such  access  sometimes  as  your  leisure  may  permit ;  for  I 
perceive  he  doth  much  desire  and  crave  it." 

The   Archbishop   replied,    "  Mr.    Cartwright   shall   be 


CART  WRIGHT.  475 

welcome  to  me  at  all  times ;  and,  using  himself  quietly 
as  becometh  him,  and  I  hope  he  will,  he  shall  find  me 
willing  to  do  him  any  good.  But  to  grant  him,  as  yet, 
any  license  to  preach,  w^ithout  longer  trial,  I  cannot, 
especially  seeing  he  protests  himself  to  be  of  the  same 
mind  he  was  at  the  writing  of  his  book,  for  the  matter 
thereof,  though  not  the  manner.  Myself  also,  I  thank 
God,  not  altered  in  any  point  by  me  set  down  to  the 
contrary  ;  and  knowing  many  things  to  be  very  dangerous. 
Wherefore,  notwithstanding  I  am  content  and  ready  to  be 
at  peace  with  him,  so  long  as  he  liveth  peaceably ;  yet  my 
conscience  and  duty  forbid  me  to  give  him  any  further 
public  approbation,  until  I  be  better  persuaded  of  his 
conformity.  And  so  being  bold  to  my  accustomed  plain- 
ness with  your  lordship,  I  commit  you  to  the  tuition  of 
Almighty  God,  this  17th  of  July,  1585." 

Leicester  preferred  him' to  the  mastership  of  a  hospital 
he  had  lately  founded  at  Warwick.  The  mastership  was 
worth  £50  a-year  and  a  house,  to  which  Leicester  added 
an  annuity  to  the  same  amount.  The  King's  books  will 
shew  that  few  beneficed  clergymen  at  that  time  had  any 
such  income.  His  opulence  was  evidently  notorious. 
"  Master  Cartwright,"  sajs  Sir  George  Paule,  "  died  rich, 
as  it  was  said,  by  the  bounty  and  benevolence  of  his 
followers." 

In  the  year  1583  he  had  been  urged  to  write  against 
the  Romish  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  and  he 
probably  at  this  time  continued  his  labours  on  this  work : 
it  was  not  published  till  1618,  many  years  after  his 
death.  It  is  not  a  \vork  of  any  value.  But  it  was  not  in 
his  study  or  his  oratory  that  the  restless  mind  of  Cart- 
wTight,  even  in  his  old  age,  found  sufficient  employment. 
He  disputed  with  the  Brownists,  (see  Life  of  Brown  J 
who,  with  more  consistency  than  Cartwright,  refused  to 
conform  to  a  Church  which  they  agreed  in  denounc- 
ing as  formed  on  anti- Christian  principles.  One  of  the 
Brownists,  Barrow  by  name,  had  a  conference  with  Cart- 
wright, and  silenced  him,   by  declaring  that  he  had  done 


476  CARTWRIGHT. 

nothing  more  than  push  Cartwright's  principles  to  their 
legitimate  conclusion.  Barrow,  indeed,  asserted  that 
churchmen  were  not  the  persons  he  most  disliked.  "  In 
their  case,"  he  said,  "  principle  went  hand  in  hand  with 
practice,  and  they  walked  according  to  the  light  that  God 
had  given  them."  But  he  complained  of  Cartwright  and 
his  friends,  for  teaching  that  the  ordination  of  the  Church 
was  an ti- Christian,  and  then  deserting  those  who  fairly 
carried  out  that  position. 

It  would  have  been  well  if  Cartwright  had  taken  the 
hint,  and  reconsidered  his  opinions;  but  he  soon  fell  into 
trouble.  Although  he  was  under  suspension,  the  authori- 
ties did  not  interfere  with  his  preaching,  and  he  preached 
at  Banbury  and  other  places;  but  he  could  not  resist 
the  temptation  of  figuring  as  leading  adviser,  and  even 
moderator,  in  certain  self-called  and  self-created  national 
synods,  clandestinely  convened  under  various  pretences. 
The  members  were  united  with  a  view  to  effect  a  change 
in  the  constitution,  and  to  interfere  with  property :  they 
were  guilty  of.  much  violence,  and  Cartw^right  himself  is 
charged  with  repeated  instances  of  intemperance. 

He  was  brought  into  the  consistory  of  St.  Paul's,  before 
John  Aylmer,  Bishop  of  London,  the  two  chief  justice:^, 
and  other  law  officers,  for  the  purpose  of  answering  under 
oath  ex  officio,  thirty-one  charges.  These  accused  him 
of  renouncing  his  lawful  calling  to  the  diaconate,  and 
undergoing  some  new  sort  of  ordination  abroad ;  of  then 
conferring  such  ordination  upon  certain  of  the  Queen's 
subjects,  some,  like  himself,  previously  ordained,  others, 
not ;  of  acting  as  president  in  an  unlawful  eldership  that 
exercised  ecclesiastical  authority  ;  of  breaking  the  promise, 
faithfully  made  on  his  return  from  the  Continent,  to 
abstain  from  attacks  upon  the  Church  of  England  ;  of 
setting  at  defiance  the  suspension  of  his  diocesan,  incurred 
by  the  frequency  and  offensiveness  of  such  attacks ;  of 
nurturing  an  uncharitable  spirit  of  faction ;  of  concealing, 
a  knowledge  of  those  who  wrote  the  Mar-Prelate,  and 
other  libels,   and  of  pronouncing  such  pieces  allowable, 


CAETWRIGHT.  47T 

after  the  failure  of  grave  arguments  ;  of  writing,  or  procur- 
ing to  be  written,  and  overlooking  and  authorizing,  the 
two  authentic  declarations  of  discipline,  received   among 
his  followers ;  of  organizing  with  others  a  national  confed- 
eracy to  carry  this  discipline  through  the  country  ;  and  of 
laying  down  various  positions,  reconcileable  neither  with 
religious,   nor  canonical  usages,  established  by  law.     It 
seems  that,  before  these  articles  were  read,  an  oath  was 
tendered  to  the  prisoner,  binding  him  generally  to  answer 
what  should  be  objected  to  him.    This  he  refused  to  take, 
although  urgently  assured  by  the  lawyers  that  such  refu- 
sal was  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  realm.     Even  this  he 
would  not  admit,  adding  that  he  thought  himself,  at  all 
events,  precluded  by  Gods  law  from  taking  any  such  oath. 
Hence  he  pronounced  it  peculiarly  unfit  for  a  minister. 
Having,  however,  heard  the  articles  objected  to  him,  he 
thought  some  of  them  in  their  nature  criminal,   and  from 
such,  if  allowed  sufficient  time  and  counsel,  he  offered  to 
clear  himself,  as  desired,  although  still  of  opinion,  that 
the  oath  could  not  by  any  law  be  demanded.     The  articles 
to  which  his  offer  extended,  were  the  renouncing  of  his 
orders,  the  ordination  of  ministers,  the  holding  of  conven- 
ticles, and  the  calling  of  synods.     The  Mar-Prelate  libels 
he  utterly  disclaimed,  but  upon  other  pieces,  of  something 
like  the  same  character,  although  himself  author  of  none 
such,  he  professed  his  readiness  to  answer.     For  silence 
upon  any  other  points,  he  expressed  himself  willing  to 
give  reasons.     If  these  were  deemed  unsatisfactory,  he 
would  patiently  undergo  any  punishment  awarded  by  the 
court  of  High  Commission.    Before  this  tribunal,  after  his 
first  appearance  in  September,  he  stood  twice  during  the 
following  month.     In  the  course  of  which  two  examina- 
tions, his  offers  appear  to  have  been  elicited.     He  very 
fairly  pleaded  against  going  farther,   that  he  might  preju- 
dice others  likely  to  decline  the  oath  under  any  circum- 
stances.     His  own  qualified  acceptance  of  it  seems  to 
have  been  rejected,   and  he   was  remanded  to  the  Fleet, 
where  he  long  remained.    Burghley  suggested  to  Whitgift 


478  CARTWRIGHT. 

the  propriety  of  absenting  himself,  Nvhile  his  old  antagonist 
stood  before  the  High  Commission,  and  this  prudent  ad- 
vice was  taken. 

By  the  High  Commission  Cartwright  was  committed  a 
prisoner  to  the  Fleet.  Having  been  again  brought  before 
the  High  Commission,  and  having  wdth  others  refused 
the  oath  ex  officio,  he  was  sent  in  1591  to  the  Star  Cham- 
ber. The  odium  of  this  prosecution  fell  upon  the  hier- 
archy. Too  many  of  the  leading  statesmen  were  hoping 
to  profit  by  another  spoliation  of  the  Church,  and  nothing 
under  Providence  but  the  firmness  of  Whitgift,  aided  by 
the  sagacity  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  w4io  would  not  in  these 
matters  suffer  even  Burghley  to  influence  her,-  prevented 
the  occurrence  of  such  an  event.  She  knew  Leicester  too 
well  to  attribute  his  puritanism  to  any  other  motive.  We 
are  far  from  defending  Archbishop  Whitgift  in  all  par- 
ticulars, and  our  sympathies  must  always  be  with  the 
sufferers,  who,  of  course,  in  their  troubles,  looked  for 
assistance  to  the  statesmen  who  had  encouraged  their 
illegal  proceedings.  Restraint  was  absolutely  necessary, 
seeing,  as  Strype  remarks,  that  "  the  prisoners  meant  to 
overthrow  the  established  ecclesiastical  government,  and 
to  introduce  hj  force  their  own  discipline,  and,  according 
to  a  contemporary,  their  imprisonment  was  not  veiy 
rigorous."  SutclifFe  says,  that  "  the  imprisonment  of 
Mr.  Cartwright  was  not  so  grievous  nor  so  costly  to  him  that 
either  he  or  others  should  complain  or  lament  the  remem- 
brance of  it  I  So  soft  was  his  lying,  so  trim  was  his  lodg- 
ing, so  pleasant  was  his  company,  so  daint^y  was  his  fare, 
so  great  were  his  gifts,  so  diligent  was  his  wife  to  rake  in 
rewards,  that  many  men  of  good  desert,  who  served  her 
majesty  in  her  wars,  would  have  been  content,  the  shame 
only  excei)ted,  to  have  exchanged  the  commodity  of  their 
places  with  him."  The  fact  of  the  seditious  proceedings 
of  Cartwright  and  his  followers  was  well  known,  the 
difficulty  was  to  establish  legal  proof,  and  in  the  absence 
of  legal  proof  the  feelings  of  a  modern  Englishman  are 
excited  at  the  treatment  they  received. 


CARTWRIGHT.  479 

The  kind  offices  of  the  Archbishop  "were  again  exercised 
towards  Cartwright,  and  through  the  interference  of  his 
grace  he  was  dismissed  from  the  Fleet  in  159'2,  under  a 
general  promise  of  quiet  and  peaceable  behaviour.  As 
soon  as  the  Archbishop  could  obtain  this  promise  from 
him,  he  acted  generously  towards  "  reflecting  on  Cart- 
wright's  abilities  and  their  ancient  acquaintance  in  Trinity 
College,  and  remembering  that  they  had  brandished  their 
pens  against  each  other,  and  that  they  were  both  well 
stricken  in  years." 

Cartwright  was  restored  to  his  hospital,  and  even  allowed 
to  preach.  He  kept  his  promise,  and  there  is  reason  to 
think,  that  before  his  death,  Cartwright  himself  was  dis- 
satisfied with  his  past  conduct.  Sir  Henry  Yelverton,  in 
his  epistle  to  the  reader,  prefixed  to  Bishop  Moreton's 
Episcopacy  Justified,  says  that  the  last  words  of  Thomas 
Cartwright  on  his  death-bed  were,  that  he  sorelv  lamented 
the  unnecessary  troubles  he  had  caused  in  the  Church,  by 
the  schism  of  which  he  had  been  the  great  fomenter ; 
and  that  he  wished  he  was  to  begin  his  life  again,  that 
he  might  testify  to  the  world  the  dislike  he  had  of  his 
former  ways      In  this  opinion,  says  Sir  Henry,  he  died. 

His  death  occurred  on  the  ^Tth  of  December,  1603. 
Besides  the  pieces  already  mentioned,  he  was  the  author  of 
the  following  works:  —  1.  Commentaria  Practica  in  totam 
Historiam  Evangelicam,  ex  quatuor  Evangelistis  har- 
monice  Concinnatam,  1630,  4to.  An  edition  of  this  was 
printed  at  Amsterdam,  by  Lewis  Elzevir,  in  1647,  with 
the  following  title  :  Harmonia  Evangelica  Commentario 
analytico,  metaphrastico,  practice,  illustrata,  &c.  2.  Com- 
mentarii  Succincti  et  Dilucidi  in  Proverbia  Salamonis, 
Amst.  1638,  4to.  3.  Metaphrasis  et  Homiliae  in  Librum 
Salamonis  qui  inscribitur  Ecclesiastes,  Amst.  1647,  4to. 
4.  A  Directory  of  Church  Government,  1644,  4to.  5.  A 
Body  of  Divinity,  London,  1616,  4to. —  Stnjpe.  Walton. 
Paule's  Life  of  Whitrjift.  Neal.  Fuller.  Soames.  Nares's 
Life  of  Burghley. 


480  CARTWRIGHT. 


CAETWEIGHT,   THOMAS. 


Thomas  Cartweight  was  the  son  of  a  schoolmaster  of 
the  same  name  at  Brentwood,  in  Essex,  and  was  born  at 
Xorthampton  on  the  1st  of  September,  1634,  being,  as 
Wood  informs  us,  puritanicall}^  educated  under  presbyterian 
parents.  He  was  entered  of  Magdalen  Hall,  Oxford,  but 
was  soon  removed  to  Queen  "s  College  by  the  parliamentary 
visitors  in  1649  ;  and,  after  taking  orders,  became  chap- 
lain of  that  college,  and  vicar  of  Walthamstow.  He  was 
at  this  time,  according  to  Wood,  "  a  very  forward  and 
confident  preacher  for  the  cause  then  in  being."  In  1659 
he  was  preacher  at  St.  Mary  Magdalen's,  Fish  street. 
After  the  Piestor.ttion  he  was  made  dom.estic  chaplain  to 
Henry,  Duke  of  Gloucester ;  prebendary  of  Twyford,  in 
the  church  of  St.  Paul ;  of  Chalford,  in  the  church  of 
Wells  ;  a  chaplain  in  ordinary  to  the  King  ;  and  rector  of 
St.  Thomas  the  Appstle,  London.  In  1672  he  was  made 
prebendary  of  Durham  ;  and  in  1677,  dean  of  Papon.  In 
I6S6  he  succeeded  to  the  bishopric  of  Chester,  for  boldly 
asserting  in  one  of  his  sermons,  that  the  King's  promises 
to  parliament  were  not  binding.  He  gives  the  following 
account  of  his  homage  and  his  consecration,  in  his  diary : 
"  October  17th,  I  was  with  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  at  the 
King's  levee;  where  he  having  received  notice  of  the 
King's  pleasure  by  my  JLord  Sunderland  that  I  should  be 
consecrated  before  him,  (though  confirmed  after  him  by  the 
contrivance  of  my  Lord  Chancellor,  at  which  the  King 
expressed  his  high  displeasure,)  urged  my  Lord  Sunder- 
land to  signify  to  the  King,  that  it  would  he  a  thing 
against  all  precedents  and  much  to  his  dissatisfaction, 
whereupon  his  lordship  (having  consulted  the  King  in  his 
closet)  signified  to  me  that  the  King  would  take  it  kindly 
of  me  if  I  would  waive  my  pretensions  to  seniority,  which 
he  acknowledged  to  be  just,  and  that  I  should  suddenly 
receive  such  a  mark  of  his  royal  favour  as  would  more 
than  compensate  my  present  claim.     After  this  v\e  went 


CARTWRIGHT.  481 

in  the  Archbishop's  barge  from  the  Privy  Stairs  to  Lam- 
beth, with  the  Bishops  of  Durham,  Norwich,  and  Ely, 
and  there  met  the  Bishop  of  Rochester,  who  joined  with 
the  Archbishop  in  our  consecration.  Mem.  The  Arch- 
bishop fell  flat  on  his  face  as  he  passed  with  the  Holy 
Bread  from  the  south  to  the  north  side  of  the  altar,  his 
head  to  the  place  where  he  knelt ;  but  being  raised  up 
by  his  two  chaplains,  Dr.  Morice  and  Dr.  Batley,  he 
proceeded  well  to  the  end  of  the  service.  Mr.  Lowth 
preached  the  consecration  sermon.  The  Bishop  of  St. 
David's  and  I  went  that  night  to  the  King's  chapel  at 
Whitehall  to  prayers,  and  after  attended  his  majesty,  who 
was  graciously  pleased  to  send  us  word  by  his  secretaries 
that  we  should  be  admitted  to  do  our  homage  the  next 
day.  Sir  John  Lowther,  Sjr  William  Meredith,  Sir  Ed- 
mund Wiseman,  Mr.  Poultney,  Mr.  Thame,  and  Mr.  Callis, 
visited  me  that  night.  We  gave  guineas  a-piece  for  our 
offering. 

18.  "  St.  Luke's  day.  This  morning  I  went  to  the  King's 
levee,  did  my  homage  with  the  Bishops  of  St.  David's  and 
Oxford,  at  eleven,  dined  with  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  and 
his  lady,  and  the  Bishop  of  Rochester.  Met  Serjeant 
Killinghall  at  Mr.  Cooke's. 

19.  "I  was  at  the  King's  levee,  gave  the  drum 
and  trumpeter's  10s. ;  Mrs.  Hambden  and  another  poor 
widow  money.  Visited  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln;  dined 
with  jny  Lord  Halifax  and  Sir  John  Lowther.  Visited 
Bishop  Labourne,  where  I  met  Father  Ellis  ;  supped 
at  Mr.  Thompson's,  with  Mr.  Cooke,  Mr.  Wooddard,  and 
Dr.  Starkey,  chaplain  to  the  Earl  of  Dover,  &c." 

On  the  1st  of  December,  he  informs  us,  "  I  was  sung 
into  the  cathedral  by  the  choir  in  procession,  and  enthroned 
by  Mr.  Dean,  and  sung  back  into  the  palace  after  prayers. 
The  warden  of  Manchester  and  three  other  clergymen 
dined  with  me  and  Mr.  Brookes ;  and  I  made  a  visit  to 
the  governor  of  the  castle,  with  Sir  John  Arderne  and 
Mr.  Dean,  in  the  evening. 

VOL.  III.  2  T 


48^  CARTWRIGHT. 

2.  "  After  prayers  and  sitting  in  the  consistory,  Sir 
Rowland  Stanley,  his  brother  Francis,  Mr,  Egerton,  Sir 
Philip  Egerton,  and  Mr.  Chomley,  and  ten  other  gentle- 
men, dined  with  me  ;  and  after  dinner  the  mayor  and 
aldermen  brought  me  a  present  of  8  sugar  loaves,  1  dozen 
of  canary,  1  doz.  of  white  wine,  and  2  of  claret,  and  were 
merry  with  me  till  7  at  night,  and  many  ladies  visited 
my  wife." 

It  appears  from  his  private  diary,  written  for  no  eye 
but  his  own,  and  lately  published,  that  he  acted  zeal- 
ously and  judiciously  in  his  diocese  where  he  chiefly 
resided.  The  following  entry  on  the  8rd  of  April,  1687, 
is  curious. 

3.  "I  preached  and  administered  the  Sacrament  at 
Allhallows  in  Northampton,  where  they  all  came  up  upon 
my  invitation  to  the  altar,  who  had  never  done  it  before, 
except  Mr.  Cockerham  and  Mr.  Clarke,  the  former  of 
which  spoke  more  than  became  him,  and  refused  to  come 
up  to  take  satisfaction  to  his  scruple,  clapped  on  his  hat 
and  went  out :  God  forgive  him,  and  bring  him  into  the 
way  of  truth  After  evening  sermon  we  were  treated  at 
Mr.  Lovell's,  and  returned  to  supper,  where  we  met 
Mr.  King  the  curate  and  other  friends.  After  dinner 
Mr.  Mayor  and  his  brethren  brought  me  up  a  dozen  bottles 
of  wine,  and  returned  me  thanks  for  my  sermon,  and 
condemned  the  rudeness  and  factiousness  of  Cockerham 
and  Clarke,  and  desired  it  might  not  be  imputed  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  corporation,  who  were  and  always  would 
be  ready  to  conform  to  all  to  which  the  doctor  should 
invite  them." 

With  reference  to  the  celebrated  declaration  for  liberty 
of  conscience,  he  gives  us  the  following  account  of  the 
Bishop's  address  : 

April  20.  "I  was  at  the  King's  levee,  and  spoke  with 
Captain  Conden,  Captain  Pack,  Bishop  of  St.  David's, 
Mr.  Bidel,  and  Mr.  Ashton.  I  received  of  Mr.  Michael 
Wharton  for  Cottingham  rent  due  at  Martlemas  £29  9s. 


CARTWRIGHT.  483 

Mr.  John  Hall  instituted  by  me  to  the  vicarage  of  Anderby 
and  licensed  to  preach,  and  received  for  his  fees  due  to  my 
secretary  £3 ;  Mr.  Francklin's  clerk  taking  for  his  pains 
i'l  10s.  Sir  Edmund  Wiseman,  Mr.  William  and  John 
Fanshaw,  Mr.  William  Coles  and  Mr  Crofts  were  with 
me.  I  met  my  Lord  President  and  the  Bishops  of  Dur- 
ham, Rochester,  Peterborough,  and  Oxon,  at  my  Lord 
Chancellor's,  where  he  and  my  Lord  President,  before 
dinner,  acquainted  us  that  his  majesty  expected  [thanks 
from  us  for  the  care  he  had  of  us,  and  the  gracious  pro- 
mises he  hath  made  to  protect  us  in  his  late  gracious 
declaration ;  of  which]  I  penned  the  form,  and  with  the 
Bishop  of  Oxon  subscribed  it  before  dinner,  and  carried  it 
down  to  my  Lord  Chancellor,  who  after  dinner  asked  the 
other  three  to  do  it,  two  of  which,  Rochester  and  Peter- 
borough, refused  [till  the  form  of  it  were  something] 
altered,  which  being  done,^ Durham,  Rochester,  and  I  sub- 
scribed it ;  Peterborough  desired  to  deliberate  till  to- 
morrow ;  and  we  were  ordered  to  meet  there  again  at  4 
in  the  afternoon  for  that  purpose.  [Rochester  and  Peter- 
borough said,  they  could  not  but  remember  how  vehe- 
mently the  King  had  declared  against  toleration,  and 
said  he  would  never  by  any  counsel  be  tempted  to 
suffer  it.  My  Lord  President  replied  ;  though  they  could 
not  choose  but  remember  it,  yet  they  might  choose 
whether  they  might  repeat  it  or  not,  for  other  men  as 
well  as  the  King  had  altered  their  minds  upon  new 
motives.  They  both  extolled  the  Bishop  of  London,  even 
to  the  condemnation  of  the  King.]  The  Bishop  of 
St  David's,  Mrs.  Elstob,  and  Sir  Thomas  Grosvenor 
eame  to  see  me  at  night.  My  Lord  of  Durham  and  I 
visited  Bishop  Labourne." 

On  the  21st  of  September,  1687,  he  says,  "I  went 
at  11  of  the  clock  from  my  Lord  Molineux  to  Liverpool, 
where  the  mayor  and  aldermen  met  me  in  the  church, 
and  I  commanded  the  churchwarden  to  set  the  com- 
munion table  altar-wise  against  the  wall.  They  gave  me 
and  Mr.  Molineux  and  Mr.  Massey  a  fish  dinner,  after 


484  CARTWRIGHT. 

which  we  were  treated  at  Dr.  Richmond's  very  kindly ; 
then  went  on  board  the  King's  yacht ;  after  which  we  were 
wet  to  the  skin  in  going  to  Sir  Rowland  Stanley's,  where 
we  lodged,  my  lady  then  in  labour." 

King  James  II.  appointed  him  one  of  his  High  Com- 
missioners for  ecclesiastical  affairs,  and  in  that  capacity 
he  visited  Magdalen  College,  Oxford.  [See  Life  of  Hough.) 
Bishop  Cartwright's  own  account  is  here  given.  He  arrived 
in  Oxford  on  the  20th  of  October,  1687. 

20.  "  We  came  into  Oxon,  my  Lord  Peterborough's 
regiment  receiving  us  at  the  town's  end,  where  the  lieu- 
tenant-colonel and  the  rest  of  the  ofiBcers  dined  with  us. 
After  dinner  Dr.  Halton,  Dr.  Hide,  and  Mr.  Archdeacon 
Eaton,  Dr.  Adams,  Mr.  Brown,  and  Mr.  Barnard,  and 
Mr.  Brooks  and  Mr,  Wickens  came  to  visit  us. 

21.  "  We  went  to  Magd.  Coll.  chapel,  where  the  crowd 
being  great,  and  no  preparations  made  for  our  sitting,  we 
adjourned  into  the  hall,  where  the  crowd  being  great,  we 
sent  Mr.  Atterbury  for  the  proctors,  who  came  accordingly 
to  keep  the  peace.  Mr.  Tucker  read  the  Kiug's  Com- 
mission. Mr.  Atterbury  returned  the  citation  on  oath. 
Having  called  over  the  fellows,  I  made  a  speech  for  the 
occasion  of  the  visitation,  and  adjourned  till  2  in  the  after- 
noon. W^e  went  to  prayers  in  the  chapel.  There  dined 
with  us  Mr.  Barnard  the  proctor,  Mr.  Wickens,  Mr.  Brown, 
and  the  officers,  and  Archdeacon  Eaton,  who  was  rob'd 
the  night  before.  In  the  afternoon  we  called  over  the  col- 
lege roll,  and  marked  the  absents.  Dr.  Fairfax,  because 
in  town,  and  not  appearing,  was  pronounced  contumacious, 
paena  reservata  in  prox.  The  buttery  book  brought  up  by 
the  butler,  and  the  statutes  by  Dr.  Hough.  Dr.  Hough 
desired  a  copy  of  the  commission  in  writing,  which  was 
denied  him,  and  then  he  in  his  own  name,  and  the  great- 
est part  of  the  fellows,  said,  He  did  submit  to  the  visita^ 
tion,  as  far  as  it  is  consistent  with  the  laws  of  the  land 
and  the  statutes  of  the  college,  and  no  farther ;  and  said, 
he  must  suffer  no  alteration  in  any  statute  by  the  King, 
or  any  other ;  for  whicU  \xQ  had  t^ken  an  oath,  from  which 


CARTWRIGHT.  48« 

be  could  not  swerve,  and  for  which  he  quoted  the  statutes 
confirmed  by  Henry  the  Sixth,  and  their  oath  in  them, 
that  they  should  submit  to  no  alteration  made  by  any 
authority.  Then  Dr.  Hough's  former  sentence  of  depri- 
vation was  commanded  to  be  read ;  to  which  he  replied, 
he  was  never  cited  nor  heard,  and  therefore  supposed  the 
sentence  to  be  invalid,  and  refused  to  submit  to  it,  though 
he  confessed  he  had  notice  of  it.  The  college's  petition  to 
the  King  to  recommend  some  other  in  Farmer's  room, 
Number  4,  was  read  :  and  asking  them  why  they  did  not 
stay  for  an  answer  to  it,  Dr.  Hough  replied,  their  fifteen 
days  were  out  before  April  15,  on  which  they  had  no 
other  sent  to  them  ;  and  requiring  him  to  give  up  the 
register,  he  promised  we  should  have  it  to-morrow  morn- 
ing. Dr  Rogers'  petition  for  the  organist's  place,  worth 
£G0  per  annum,  of  which  he  says  he  was  unduly  deprived, 
was  given  in  by  Mr.  Holloway  and  filed,  and  so  we 
adjourned  till  the  next  day  at  8.  We  visited  Dr.  Haltou 
and  the  Bishop  of  ilan.  Mr.  Spencer,  Mr.  Welsh,  Mr.  Hol- 
loway came  to  visit  us. 

22.  "  We  called  in  the  steward  with  the  books  of  leases 
and  court  rolls,  which  were  delivered  him  back,  till  we 
made  farther  use  of  them.  The  butler  brought  the  but- 
tery book,  and  Dr.  Hough  being  called  in  again,  I  told 
him,  '  Doctor,  here  is  a  sentence  under  seal  before  us  of 
the  King's  commissioners  for  visiting  the  universities,  by 
which  your  election  to  the  presidentship  of  Magd.  Coll.  is 
declared  null  and  void,  which  you  yesterday  heard  read, 
and  of  which  you  confessed  yourself  to  have  legal  notice 
before  it,  being  fixed  upon  your  doors.  This  sentence, 
and  the  authority  by  which  it  was  passed,  you  have  con- 
temned, and  in  contempt  thereof  have  kept  possession  of 
the  lodgings  and  office  to  this  day,  to  the  great  contempt 
and  dishonour  of  the  King  and  his  authority.  Are  you 
yet  willing,  upon  second  and  better  thoughts,  1st,  to 
submit  to  this  sentence  passed  by  the  Lords  upon  you,  or 
not  ?  2ndly,  Will  you  deliver  up  the  keys  and  lodgings, 
2  t2 


486  CARTWRIGHT. 

as,  by  a  clause  in  your  oath  at  your  admission,  you  are 
tied  to  do,  for  the  use  of  the  president,  who  has  the  King's 
letters  mandatory  to  be  admitted  into  that  office  ?'  To  the 
first  he  says,  that  '  the  decree  of  the  commissioners  is  a 
perfect  nullity  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  as  to  what 
relates  to  him,  he  never  having  been  cited,  nor  having 
ever  appeared  before  them  either  in  his  person  or  by  his 
proxy  ;  besides,  his  cause  itself  was  never  before  them, 
their  lordships  never  inquiring  or  asking  one  question 
concerning  the  legality  and  statutableness  of  the  election, 
for  which  reasons  he  is  informed  that  the  decree  was  of 
no  validity  against  him,  according  to  the  methods  of  the 
civil  law ;  but  if  it  had,  he  is  possessed  of  a  freehold 
according  to  the  laws  of  England  and  the  statutes  of  the 
society,  having  been  elected  as  unanimously  and  with  as 
much  formality  as  any  of  his  predecessors,  presidents  of 
the  college,  and  afterwards  admitted  by  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  their  visitor,  as  the  statutes  of  the  college 
require ;  and  therefore  he  could  not  submit  to  that  sen- 
tence, because  he  thought  he  could  not  be  deprived  of  his 
freehold,  but  by  course  of  law  in  Westminster  Hall,  or  by 
being  some  w^ays  incapacitated,  according  to  the  founder's 
statutes,  which  were  confirmed  by  Kiug  James  I.'  Then 
the  Dr.  asked,  '  w^hether  we  acknowledged  his  title  to  the 
presidentship  ?'  I  replied,  '  No  ;  for  we  looked  upon  him 
as  malse  fidei  possessor,  or  an  intruder.'  He  replied,  that 
'  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  made  him  so,  and  said  that  he 
was  satisfied  in  his  own  title,  and  therefore  did  not  think 
himself  concerned  to  apply  to  the  commissioners  till 
called,  and  that  he  expects  legal  courses  should  be  taken 
against  him,  if  he  keep  legal  possession.'  To  which  I 
replied,  that  '  the  election  was  undue,  because  the  King 
had  laid  his  hands  by  his  mandamus  upon  the  college, 
which  was  an  inhibition.'  To  the  second  question  he 
answered,  '  there  neither  is  nor  can  be  any  president  so 
long  as  he  lives  and  obeys  the  laws  of  the  land  and  the 
statutes  of  the  place,   and   therefore  he  does  not  think  it 


CARTWRIGHT.  48t 

reasonable  to  give  up  his  right,  nor  the  keys  and  lodg- 
ings now  demanded  of  him.  He  takes  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester  to  be  their  ordinary  visitor  (and  the  King  to 
be  his  extraordinary,  as  he  believed,  but  it  had  been  con- 
troverted whether  the  King  had  power  to  visit  or  not,  in 
Coveney's  case,  4  Eliz.)  and  yet  he  would  deny  him  the 
keys,  because  he  looks  upon  commanding  the  keys  from 
him  to  be  requiring  him  to  deliver  up  his  office.  He  said 
he  had  appeared  before  us  hitherto  as  judges,  and  that  he 
now  addressed  to  us  as  men  of  honour  and  judgment,  and 
besought  us  to  represent  him  as  dutiful  to  bis  majesty  to 
the  last  degree,  as  he  always  would  be,  where  his  con- 
science permits,  to  the  last  moment  of  his  life  ;  and  when 
he  is  dispossessed,  he  hopes  we  will  intercede,  that  he 
may  no  longer  lie  under  his  majesty's  displeasure  ;  or  be 
frowned  upon  by  his  prince,  which  would  be  the  greatest 
affliction  could  befal  him  ;n  this  world."  Which  having 
promised,  I  admonished  him  to  depart  peaceably  from  the 
president's  lodgings,  and  to  act  no  more  as  president  or 
pretended  president  of  the  college,  in  contempt  of  the 
King,  and  his  authority,  Imo,  2do,  et  tertio. 

"  Mr.  Leigh  accused  his  contumacy,  and  prayed  our 
judgment,  which  was  this  ;  '  The  Lords  Commissioners 
for  ecclesiastical  causes  and  for  visiting  the  university, 
have  declared  the  president's  place  of  this  college  to  be 
null  and  void,  and  therefore  wt,  by  virtue  of  the  King's 
authority  to  us  committed,  do  order  and  command 
Dr.  Hough  forthwith  to  quit  all  pretensions  to  the  said 
office,  and  that  his  name  be  struck  out  of  the  but- 
tery book,  and  do  admonish  you  the  fellows  and  other 
members  of  this  society  no  longer  to  own  him  as  your 
president. 

"  Then  we  read  the  King's  mandate  for  the  Bishop  of 
Oxon,  and  so  adjourned  to  the  same  common  room  till  2 
in  the  afternoon.  Then  Dr.  Pudsfey's  letter,  28  Aug.  '87, 
was  read,  which  the  doctor  owned,  and  the  fellows  their 
consent  to  it.  We  asked  them  concerning  the  King's 
verbal  command  to  them  at  Oxford,  which  thev  said  was. 


488  CARTWRIGHT. 

to  elect  the  Bishop,  which  they  could  not.  We  asked 
them  why  they  did  not  admit  him,  which  was  all  the 
King's  letter  required,  to  which  his  verbal  command  re- 
ferred. Dr.  Smith.  Dr.  Bayley,  Dr.  Hollis,  Mr.  Bagshaw, 
Hicks,  Howner,  Cradock,  and  Charnock,  said  they  were 
not  there.  Dr.  Stafford,  Mr.  Almond,  Hammond,  Rogers, 
Dobson,  Bayley,  Davies,  Bateman,  Hunt,  Oilman,  Pen- 
nison,  Holden,  and  Wilks,  said  they  were.  Dr.  Hough 
came  in  with  a  great  crowd  of  followers,  and  said, 
'  Whereas  your  Lordships  this  morning  have  been 
pleased,  pursuant  to  the  former  decree  of  the  Lords  Com- 
missioners, to  deprive  me  of  the  place  of  president  of  this 
college,  and  to  strike  my  name  out  of  the  buttery  book ; — 
I  do  hereby  protest  against  the  said  proceedings,  and  against 
all  that  you  have  done  or  hereafter  shall  do  in  prejudice 
of  me  and  my  right,  as  illegal,  unjust  and  null ;  and  I  do 
hereby  appeal  to  our  Sovereign  Lord  the  King  in  his 
courts  of  justice.'  Upon  which  the  rabble  hummed,  and 
Dr.  Hough  was  accused  by  my  Lord  Chief  Justice  of 
bringing  them  iu  ;  upon  which  he  required  the  peace  of 
him,  to  which  he  was  bound  in  £1000  bond,  and  his  two 
sureties  in  £500  each;  and  I  gave  the  Dr.  this  answer : — 
'  Doctor,  we  look  upon  your  appeal,  as  to  the  matter  and 
manner  of  it,  to  be  unreasonable,  not  admissible,  and  not 
to  be  admitted  by  us:  1.  Because  it  is  in  a  visitation, 
where  no  appeal  is  allowable :  2ndly,  because  our  visita- 
tion is  by  commission,  under  the  broad  seal  of  England, 
which  is  the  supreme  authority,  and  therefore  we  overrule 
this  your  protestation  and  appeal,  and  admonish  you  once 
for  all  to  avoid  the  college  and  obey  the  sentence.'  The 
doctor  and  fellows  declared  their  grief  for  the  disorders  of 
the  crowd,  and  disclaimed  having  any  hand  in  it.  Mr. 
Tucker  read  the  paper,  4  Sept.  attested  by  a  public  notary, 
and  delivered  to  the  King ;  and  the  fellows  acknowledged 
it  to  be  theirs,  after  which  we  adjourned  till  Tuesday  at 
8  in  the  morning.  The  Vice-Chancellor,  Warden  of  New 
College,  and  others,  came  to  visit  us  in  the  evening,  and 
the  Bishop  of  Man  from  the  college,  to  beseech  us  not  to 


CARTWRIGHT.  489 

animadvert  upon  the  libel  or  the  humming,  but  to  accept 
their  acknowledgments  of  the  just  respects  which  they 
profess  to  owe  us  for  our  candour  towards  them ;  after 
which  we  sent  a  messenger  with  an  account  of  what  we 
had  done,  to  the  King,  and  a  letter  to  Lord  Sunderland 
and  Lord  Chancellor. 

•23.  "  Having  had  prayers  in  our  lodgings,  we  went  to 
sermon  to  Christ  Church,  where  Dr.  Smith  preached ; 
from  whence  we  returned  to  dinner,  and  with  us  the 
officers,  Mr.  Chetwin,  Mr.  Brown,  and  our  landlord  and 
landlady.  After  which  we  went  to  St.  Mary's  to  church, 
where  the  preacher,  Mr.  Entwisle  of  Brasennose,  made 
reflections  on  some  bishops,  of  which  the  papists  had 
hopes,  but  that  they  must  destroy  them  all,  before  they 
could  do  their  business :  after  which  we  visited  the  master 
of  Brasennose,  the  proctor,  the  warden  of  All  Souls,  and 
Mr.  Clarke,  where  the  warden  of  New  College  came  to  us, 
and  supped  with  the  Bishop  of  Man,  where  the  provost  of 
Queen's,  and  warden  of  All  Souls,  and  Mr.  Chetwin,  met 
us,  and  we  staid  till  8  at  night.  I  received  the  Bishop 
of  Oxford's  letter  and  answered  it. 

24.  "I  wrote  to  the  Chancellor  of  Chester  not  to  publish 
the  suspension  against  the  dean  till  farther  order  from 
me,  according  to  the  dean's  desire,  by  letter.  There 
dined  with  us  Mr.  Hollowav,  our  landlady,  two  more : 
after  which  I  went  to  Cuddesden  to  visit  the  Bishop  of 
Oxon.  Dr.  Hough  gave  us  a  visit  at  my  return,  and  then 
we  went  to  the  Vice- Chancellors,  from  whence  at  our 
return  we  met  with  Mr.  Charnock,  and  I  received  a  name- 
less letter  to  caution  us  in  the  business  of  Magdalene 
College;  and  the  Vice- Chancellor  published  a  diploma 
against  humming,  &c.,  occasioned  by  Saturday's  miscar- 
riage in  Magd.  Coll.  The  Earl  of  Lichfield  sent  us  a 
brace  of  does.     I  went  to  Cuddesden. 

25.  "We  met  at  Magdalene,  called  over  the  fellows,  &c., 
read  the  Bishop's  proxy  for  instalment  of  Mr.  Wickens, 
and  then  said ;  '  By  virtue  of  the  King's  commission  to 
las  directed,  we   do  order  and  decree  the   Right  Reverend 


490  CARTWRIGHT. 

father  in  God,  Samuel,  Lord  Bishop  of  Oxon,  to  be  in- 
stalled by  his  proxy  Mr.  Wickens  in  the  president's  stall 
in  the  chapel  of  this  college  forthwith,  and  the  chapel 
doors  to  be  opened  for  that  purpose.'  Which  we  saw 
effectually  done  by  Mr.  Leigh,  who  tendered  him  the 
oaths  of  president,  allegiance,  and  supremacy  ;  which  hav- 
ing done,  we  returned  into  common  room,  where,  having 
called  in  the  fellows,  &c.,  Dr.  Stafford  gave  me  a  paper  in 
the  behalf  of  himself  and  the  fellows,  but  subscribed  by 
none  but  himself  and  Dr.  Fairfax,  of  which  having  told 
him  the  danger,  he  humbly  desired  to  withdraw  it,  to 
which  we  consented.  We  then  propounded  to  them  this 
question  :  '  Will  you  submit  to  the  Bishop  of  Oxon,  now 
installed  your  president  by  the  King's  mandate,  in  Ileitis 
et  honestis  ? '  And  they  desired  till  the  afternoon  to  con- 
sult together,  and  to  give  in  their  answers  in  scriptis, 
which  was  granted  them ;  and  then  we  sent  for  a  smith, 
and  broke  open  the  outward  door  of  the  president  s  lodg- 
ings, in  the  first  room  whereof  we  found  all  the  keys,  and 
left  Mr.  Wickens  in  quiet  possession,  and  so  adjourned. 
The  Bishop's  lady.  Judge  Holloway's  daughter,  and  many 
of  the  officers  dined  with  us." 

Knowing  his  unpopularity,  from  the  unprincipled  way 
in  which  he  acceded  to  the  King's  aggressions  upon  the 
Church,  he  fled  to  France  at  the  Revolution ;  and  while  he 
abode  at  St.  Germain's  performed  divine  service  according 
to  the  English  Ritual,  for  such  members  of  the  Church  of 
England  as  resorted  to  him.  On  the  death  of  Dr.  Seth 
Ward  King  James  nominated  him  to  the  see  of  Salisbury. 
Afterwards,  Wood  informs  us,  "  he  went  with  his  said 
master  towards  Ireland,  landed  there  on  Tuesday  12th 
March,  1688,  and  on  Sunday  following  being  at  Cork,  he 
received  the  Sacrament  from  the  hands  of  the  Bishop  of 
that  place.  On  Palm  Sunday,  March  24th,  he  went  to 
Dublin  with  the  King,  and  on  Easter  day  and  the  octaves 
of  Easter  1689,  he  again  received  the  Sacrament  at  Christ 
Church  there,  from  the  Bishop  of  Meath,  to  which  church 
Bishop  Cartwright   went  daily  to   prayers.      Afterwards 


CARYL.  491 

being  overtaken  with  the  country  disease  called  the  flux 
or  dysentery,  he  finished  his  course  there  on  Monday 
morning,  April  15,  1689." 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  this  prelate  was  a  time-server, 
but  he  was  faithful  to  his  royal  master,  and  though  wor- 
thy of  blame,  seems  scarcely  to  have  deserved  all  the  severe 
remarks  which,  from  the  authority  of  Burnet,  have  been 
made  upon  him  by  subsequent  historians.  His  Diary 
was  published  by  the  Camden  Society  in  1843  ;  and  such 
extracts  from  it  have  been  given  above  as  seem  to  throw 
ight  upon  the  history  of  the  period. — Wood.  Burnet. 
Wilmofs  Life  of  Hough.     Cartwrighfs  Diary. 


CARYL,    JOSEPH. 

Joseph  Caryl  was  born' in  London,  in  1602,  and  gra- 
duated at  Exeter  College,  Oxford.  He  plunged  into  the 
great  rebellion  with  zeal,  and  was  one  of  the  Presbyterians 
sent  by  the  rebel  parliament  to  attend  Charles  I.  at 
Holmby  House.  Clarendon  informs  us,  that  what  dis- 
pleased the  King  most,  was  that  they  would  not  permit 
him  to  have  his  own  chaplains  ;  but  ordered  Presbyterian 
ministers  to  attend  for  divine  service ;  and  his  majesty, 
utterly  refusing  to  be  present  at  their  devotions,  was  com- 
pelled at  those  hours  to  be  his  own  chaplain  in  his  bed- 
chamber; where  he  constantly  used  the  Common  Prayer 
by  himself.  His  majesty  bore  this  constraint  so  heavily 
that  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  house  of  peers,  in  which  he 
inclosed  a  list  of  the  names  of  thirteen  of  his  chaplains  ; 
any  two  of  which  he  desired  might  have  liberty  to  attend 
him  for  his  devotion.  To  which,  after  many  days  consi- 
deration, they  returned  this  answer ;  "  That  all  those 
chaplains  were  disaifected  to  the  established  government 
of  the  church,  and  had  not  taken  the  covenant ;  but  that 
there  were  others  who  had,   who,  if  his  majesty  pleased. 


492  CARYL. 

should  be  sent  to  him."  After  this  answer,  his  majesty 
thought  it  to  no  purpose  to  importune  them  farther  in 
that  particular  ;  but,  next  to  the  having  his  own  chaplains, 
he  would  have  been  best  pleased  to  have  been  without 
any ;  they  who  were  sent  by  them  being  men  of  mean 
parts  and  of  most  impertinent  and  troublesome  confidence 
and  importunity. 

Caryl  was  one  of  the  four  Presbyterian  ministers  ap- 
pointed by  the  parliament  to  assist  their  commissioners 
in  the  debates  concerning  religion  with  the  King  in  the 
Isle  of  Wight. 

When  Cromwell  was  seated  on  the  Protector's  Throne, 
he  summoned  a  pretended  parliament,  of  which  Lenthall 
was  speaker.  These  members  passed  an  act  for  settling  a 
committee  of  Tryers  for  the  approbation  of  public 
preachers.  Those  who  were  admitted  to  any  benefice  or 
lecture,  were  obliged  to  pass  the  test  of  this  committee, 
and  receive  an  instrument  equivalent  to  letters  of  insti- 
tution and  induction.  Although  the  majority  of  these 
Tryers  were  ministers,  yet  since  eight  of  them  were  lay- 
men, and  any  five  enabled  to  execute  the  powers  of  the 
act,  it  might  sometimes  happen  that  none  but  secular 
men  might  act  in  this  post,  and  determine  upon  the  qua- 
lifications of  those  who  were  to  preach  and  administer  the 
Sacraments.  This  act  w^as  confirmed  in  the  next  pre- 
tended parliament,  held  in  the  year  1656. 

Caryl  was  one  of  the  Tryers.  He  and  Dr.  Owen  were, 
by  order  of  parliament,  sent  in  1650,  to  attend  on  Cix)m- 
well  in  Scotland,  and  to  officiate  as  ministers.  After  the 
passing  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  he  gathered  a  congrega- 
tion in  the  neighbourhood  of  St.  Magnus,  London-Bridge, 
to  which  he  preached  until  his  death,  which  took  place  in 
1673.  He  was  a  man  of  indefatigable  industry,  and  left 
behind  him  a  considerable  number  of  sermons  and  tracts  ; 
but  his  principal  work  is  his  Commentary  on  Job,  first 
printed  in  12  vols,  4to,  and  afterwards  in  two  large 
folios. — Calamy.     Clarendon.      Collier. 


CASAS.  493 


CAS-\S,  BARTHOLOM^DS  DE  LAS. 

Bartholom.eus  DE  Las  Casas  was  bom  at  Seville,  in 
1474.  His  family  was  very  considerable  in  that  city. 
At  nineteen  years  of  age  he  followed  Antonio  de  las  Casas, 
his  father,  to  the  Indies,  whither  he  went  in  1493  with 
Christopher  Columbus.  At  his  return  into  Spain,  in 
1498,  he  continued  his  studies,  which  that  voyage  had  in- 
terrupted, and  made  great  progress,  not  only  in  divinity, 
but  also  in  the  civil  and  canon  law.  Then  he  went 
into  holy  orders,  and  returned  into  America,  where  he 
staid  in  Hispaniola ;  and  being  ordained  priest,  was 
obliged  to  accept  of  the  cure  of  Zaguarama  in  the  Isle  of 
Cuba,  which  he  quickly  quitted,  that  he  might  labour 
after  the  liberty  of  the  Indians,  whom  the  Spaniards 
treated  in  a  most  cruel  manner.  He  made  for  that 
purpose  a  voyage  into  Spain,  and  laid  the  cruelties  wdiich 
were  exercised  upon  the  Indians  before  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  letting  him  know  that  this  barbarity  was  as 
prejudicial  to  his  state  as  it  was  contrary  to  religion.  He 
was  sent  back  into  the  Indies,  with  orders  to  make  him- 
self acquainted  with  the  conduct  of  the  governors,  and 
to  give  an  account  to  the  council  of  Spain ;  but  all  his 
care  proved  fruitless.  Then  it  was  that  he  took  ^ the 
Dominican  habit,  and  afterwards  procured  several  estab- 
lishments for  his  order  in  Peru.  Having  returned  into 
Spain,  he  acted  wdth  so  much  zeal,  and  made  such  strong 
remonstrances  to  Charles  V.,  that  that  prince  called 
a  meeting  of  prelates  and  of  learned  and  pious  men  at 
Valladolid  ;  where  regulations  were  drawn  up  to  remedy 
the  disorders  committed  in  the  Indies,  which  he  con- 
firmed by  his  edict  given  at  Barcelona  in  December  1543. 
These  regulations  were  published  in  the  Indies,  but  were 
never  executed  ;  and  the  Spanish  governors,  or  rather  the 
tyrants  of  that  country,  still  pursued  their  course  of  rapine 
and  violence.    Bartholomew  de  las  Casas,  then  nominated 

VOL.  III.  2  u 


494  CASAS. 

to  the  bishopric  of  Chiapa,  continued  still  to  inform  the 
court  of  their  conduct.  There  was  at  that  time  one 
Dr.  Sepulveda  who,  gained  by  some  Spaniards  who  had 
tyrannized  in  the  Indies,  wTote  a  very  elegant  book  in 
Latin  by  way  of  dialogue  ;  in  which  he  undertook  to  prove, 
that  the  Spaniards' wars  in  the  Indies  were  very  just,  and 
founded  upon  a  right  which  they  had  to  subdue  the  peo- 
ple of  that  new  world  :  that  the  Indians  were  obliged  to 
submit  themselves  to  the  Spaniards  to  be  governed  by 
them,  because  they  were  less  wise  and  less  prudent ;  and 
that  if  they  would  not  voluntarily  submit  to  their  domina- 
tion, they  might  be  constrained  by  force  of  arms.  That 
doctor,  to  add  greater  weight  to  his  argument  declared, 
that  his  whole  aim  was  to  settle  the  right  which  the  Kings 
of  Castile  and  Leon  had  to  seize  upon  their  fee  [domain] 
of  the  Indies.  Represented  his  book  to  the  royal  council, 
and  demanded  with  great  earnestness  leave  to  print  it. 
The  council  having  several  times  refused  it,  he  had  re- 
course to  some  of  his  friends  that  were  in  the  Emperors 
court.  The  Bishop  of  Chiapa,  who  bad  returned  from 
America  in  1551,  being  well  informed  of  the  steps  of 
Sepulveda,  and  being  pursuaded  that  his  book  tended  to 
authorize  all  the  cruelties  exercised  in  the  Indies,  op- 
posed its  being  printed,  and  represented  the  ill  conse- 
quvences  which  its  publication  might  have.  The  members 
of  the  council -royal,  seeing  that  this  matter  was  purely 
theological,  remitted  the  examination  of  Sepulvedas  book 
to  the  universities  of  Alcala  and  Salamanca,  Those  two 
universities  declared,  that  it  ought  not  to  be  printed,  and 
that  its  doctrine  was  not  sound.  Sepulveda  sent  his  book 
to  Rome,  and  had  it  printed  there.  The  Emperor  having 
notice  of  it,  sent  express  orders  to  forbid  it,  and  caused 
the  copies  to  be  seized.  But  since  they  could  not  hinder 
the  spreading  several  copies  in  Spanish  among  the  peo^ 
pie,  the  Bishop  of  Cliiapa  thought  himself  obliged  to 
answer  it  in  defence  of  the  Indians. 


CASAS.  4D5 

The  Emperor  being  desirous  to  put  an  end  to  this 
dispute,  ordered  Sepulveda  and  the  Bishop  of  Chiapa  to 
be  cited,  to  give  their  reasons  before  the  roval  council  of 
the  Indies,  and  sent  Dominico  Soto  to  be  a  sort  of  arbi- 
trator between  the  two  contending  parties,  who  spake 
several  days  together  before  the  council.  The  Bishop  of 
Chiapa  alone  took  up  five  audiences  ;  after  which,  Soto 
made  a  summary  report  of  the  reasons  of  both  sides, 
much  more  favourable  to  the  Bishop  of  Chiapa  than  to 
Dr.  Sepulveda.  The  council  ordered  the  Bishop  to  put 
all  his  reasons  in  writing,  and  to  send  a  memorial  of 
them  to  the  Emperor :  he  did  so,  but  the  business  con- 
tinued still  undecided.  De  las  Casas  seeing  then  no 
hope  of  succeeding  in  his  design  of  easing  the  Indians, 
surrendered  his  bishopric  into  the  popes  hands  ;  and 
died  some  years  after  at  Madrid,  in  the  year  1566,  being 
9-2  years  old. 

This  Bishop  drew  up  several  memorials  in  defence  of 
the  Indians,  and  against  the  cruelties  which  the  Spaniards 
exercised  against  those  poor  people  ;  some  of  which  were 
collected  and  printed  in  Spanish  at  Seville  in  ISoiJ, 
entitled,  A  short  Narrative  of  the  Destruction  of  the 
Indies,  collected  by  Bishop  Dom.  E.  Bartholomew  de  las 
Casas,  of  the  order  of  S  Dominic.  This  collection  was 
translated  into  French  by  James  de  Miggrode,  and  printed 
in  1582  ;  it  was  also  published  in  Latin  at  Frankfort  in 
1598  ;  and  in  Italian,  translated  by  James  Castellaiii,  at 
Venice,  in  1643.  There  is  also  a  French  tianslation, 
printed  at  Paris  in  1697,  and  at  Amsterdam  in  1698. 

The  report  of  Soto  is  given  at  length  in  Dupin,  and  is 
worthy  of  perusal.  Sepulveda's  chief  point  seems  to  have 
been,  that  it  was  policy  first  to  conquer  and  then  to 
convert ;  conversion  being  hopeless  until  civilization  was 
introduced,  which  could  only  be  from  the  introduction  of 
European  habits, — the  habits  of  the  conqueror. — Dupin. 
Moreri. 


496  CASAUBON. 

CASAUBON,  ISAAC. 

Isaac  Casaubon  was  born  at  Geneva,  in  1559.  He 
was  educated  under  his  father,  Arnold  Casaubon,  a 
minister  of  the  reformed  church,  and  at  the  age  of  nine 
he  could  both  speak  and  write  Latin  fluently.  At  the  age 
of  nineteen  he  went  to  the  university  of  Geneva,  where,  at 
the  expiration  of  four  years,  he  became  professor  of  Greek. 
In  1586  he  married  the  daughter  of  Henry  Stephens,  the 
printer,  by  whom  he  had  twenty  children.  After  residing 
at  Geneva  fourteen  years  he  removed  to  Montpelier,  where 
he  was  appointed  professor  of  Greek;  but  being  dissatisfied 
with  his  situation  there,  he  went  to  Paris  in  1598,  where 
he  had  the  promise  from  Henry  TV,  of  a  similar  appoint- 
ment, which  was  never  fulfilled  ;  and  though  a  pension 
was  granted  him,  it  was  ill  paid.  Being  one  of  the 
protestant  judges  in  the  conference  between  Du  Perron 
and  Du  Plessis  Mornay,  in  1600,  he  gave  his  opinion 
against  the  latter,  which  made  many  think  he  would 
change  his  religion ;  but  in  this  they  were  mistaken. 

This  conference  was  held  at  Fontainbleau  in  May  1600, 
and  only  lasted  one  day,  owing  to  the  indisposition  of 
M.  du  Plessis  Mornay.  The  other  judge  on  the  protestant 
side  pretended  to  be  convinced,  and  became  a  convert  to 
Eomanism.  He  tried  to  persuade  Casaubon  to  follow 
his  example,  and  quarrelled  with  him  when  he  refused  to 
do  so. 

In  1603  Casaubon  was  appointed  librarian  to  the  King 
under  the  following  circumstances :  King  Henry  IV., 
sensible  that  he  ought  to  have  a  man  of  the  greatest 
merit  at  the  head  of  his  library,  had,  at  the  recommenda- 
tion of  M.  de  Villeroi,  while  Gosselin  his  librarian  was 
yet  living,  fixed  upon  Casaubon,  who  at  that  time  had 
the  greatest  name  for  literature.  This  affair  was  carried 
on  mysteriously.  The  King  desired  to  see  Casaubon 
in  private ;  he  told  him  that  he  intended  to  make  him 
his  librarian ;  and  that  Gosselin  could  not  live  above  a 


CASAUBON.  4W7 

year ;  adding,  with  the  frank  and  noble  air  which  so  well 
became  that  great  prince  :  "You  shall  see  my  fine  books, 
and  tell  me  what  they  contain;  fori  don't  understand 
them  myself." 

Gosselin  lived  three  years  after  this  conversation,  till 
1603.  The  Jesuits  being  infonned  that  Casaubon  was  to  be 
set  over  the  King's  library,  represented  to  his  majesty  the 
inconveniences  of  confiding  a  treasure  of  that  nature  to 
the  most  obstinate  of  all  heretics.  This  made  some 
impression  on  the  King :  nevertheless  he  was  afraid  of  a 
clamour  were  it  known  that  he  refused  to  a  protestant, 
on  account  of  his  religion,  an  employment  which  he  had 
promised  him.  He  consulted  with  some  persons ;  and 
they  advised  him  to  send  to  Holland  for  Grotius,  whom 
he  knew,  and  appoint  him  his  librarian  ;  which  would 
make  the  public  ascribe  the  change  to  some  private  dis- 
content, and  not  to  religioji.  Casaubon,  apprised  of  what 
was  doing,  remained  perfectly  quiet:  but  the  president 
De  Thou,  thinking  the  King's  honour  concerned  in  keeping 
his  word,  warmly  solicited  in  his  favour,  and  after  the 
affair  had  been  suspended  some  weeks,  Casaubon  was  at 
length  nominated. 

While  the  Romanists  were  thus  opposing  Casaubon,  he 
was  reviled  as  a  papist  among  the  ultra-puritans  because, 
while  he  admitted  the  errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  he 
could  not  regard  protestantism  as  a  perfect  system. 
Casaubon,  indeed,  ardently  desired  a  reunion  between 
Protestants  and  Romanists,  and  informed  Grotius  that  he 
would  have   set  about  it  if  he   had  remained   lonwr  in 

o 

France.  It  was  the  wish  also  of  his  learned  friend 
Grotius.  Both  had  great  reverence  for  the  opinions  of 
the  ancient  Church.  Casaubon 's  letter  to  M.  de  Thou  is 
a  demonstrative  proof  that  these  excellent  men  did  not 
differ  in  matters  of  religion.  "  I  esteem  Grotius  highly,"' 
he  says,  "  on  account  of  his  other  great  qualities  ;  for  he 
judges  of  modem  controversies  like  a  learned  and  good 
man ;  and  his  veneration  for  antiquity  agrees  with  the 
wisest." 

2u3 


498  CASAUBON. 

On  the  death  of  Henry  IV.  he  came  over  to  England. 
He  was  at  this  time  in  affliction,  his  eldest  son  hav- 
ing become  a  Roman  Catholic.  The  principles  held  by 
Casaubon  finding  nothing  accordant  with  them  in  the 
foreign  protestant  system,  naturally  led  him  to  this  course, 
from  which  the  early  prejudices  of  education  kept  the 
father.  On  coming  to  England,  Casaubon  learned  how  a 
Church  might  protest  against  the  errors  of  Rome  and  still 
be  Catholic,  adhering,  not  like  the  Romanists,  to  the 
religion  of  the  middle  ages,  but  to  the  religion  of  the 
primitive  Church.  This  prevented  his  son  Meric  from 
following  his  elder  brother's  example.  In  England,  when- 
ever the  Catholic  ritual,  as  prescribed  in  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  is  administered  by  a  latitudinarian 
clergy,  the  principles  of  the  Prayer  Book  being  opposed 
to  the  practice  of  the  clergy,  the  perverts  to  Romanism 
must  be  many.  When  the  practice  and  the  principles  of 
the  Church  coincide,  the  result  is  the  reverse.  Casaubon 
was  honourably  received  by  the  leading  members  of  the 
Church  of  England.  James  I.  delighted  in  his  conversa- 
tion, admitted  him  to  his  own  table,  and  presented  him 
with  £150,  to  enable  him  to  visit  our  universities.  On 
3rd  of  January,  1611,  Casaubon  was  made  a  denizen; 
and  on  the  19th  of  the  same  month  the  King  granted 
him  a  pension  of  three  hundred  pounds,  and  two  pre- 
bends, one  at  Canterbury,  and  the  other  at  Westminster. 
But  very  different  was  the  reception  he  met  with  from  the 
bigoted  and  intolerant  puritans,  instigated  probably  by 
the  foreign  Calvinists.  Casaubon  complains  in  one  of  his 
letters  that  he  was  more  insulted  in  London  than  he  had 
ever  been  in  Paris  in  the  midst  of  the  papists  ;  that 
stones  were  thrown  at  his  windows  night  and  day ;  that 
he  received  a  severe  wound  as  he  was  going  to  court ;  that 
his  children  were  insulted  in  the  streets  ;  and  he  and  his 
family  were  sometimes  pelted  with  stones.  This  the 
pr.ritans  regarded  as  religion:  and  the  spirit  of  puritanism 
remains  the  same  ;  though,  from  change  of  circumstances, 


CASAUBON.  49a 

thev  shoot  out  their  arrows,  even  bitter  words,  by  false- 
hoods from  the  preSs,  the  police  protecting  their  victims 
from  personal  violence. 

That  the  French  Calvinists  viewed  with  jealousy  the 
generous  kindness  with  which  Casaubon  was  received  by 
all  that  was  gi'eat  and  good  in  England  is  e\4dent.  Peter 
de  Moulin  wrote  to  Dr.  James  Montague,  Bishop  of  Bath 
and  Wells,  to  inform  him  that  Casaubon  had  a  great  lean- 
ing towards  popery,  and  was  in  fact  only  prevented  from 
joining  the  Church  of  Rome  on  account  of  his  inability  to 
acquiesce  in  a  small  number  of  articles  ;  and,  although  he 
could  conform  to  the  English  Church,  he  could  not  sym- 
pathize with  the  French  protestants  any  longer,  but  would 
unite  himself  to  the  Galilean  Church,  in  spite  of  his  ob- 
jections to  some  particulars,  on  his  return  to  France.  He 
had,  he  said,  promised  conformity  to  the  Church  of  France 
on  his  return.  Peter  du  ■^oulin,  therefore,  desired  Bishop 
Montague  to  keep  Casaubon  in  England  where  the  Church 
was  reformed  according  to  the  primitive  doctrine,  and  so 
met  all  his  views ;  and  to  euiploy  him  in  writing  against 
the  annals  of  Baronius,  since  he  knew  that  he  had  mate- 
rials for  that  purpose.  This  was  the  origin  of  his  Exer- 
citationes  contra  Baronium.  He  only  brings  down  his 
history  to  thirty-four  years  after  Christ,  and  the  work  is 
considered  as  worthy  of  his  learning  and  talents. 

He  died  July  1,  1614,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey.  His  chief  works  are  the  following: — 1.  Strabo, 
with  Commentaries,  Geneva,  1587;  reprinted  with  Addi- 
tions, Paris,  1620,  fol.  2.  Aristotelis  Opera,  with  Margi- 
nal Notes,  Geneva,  1605,  fol.  3.  Theophrasti  Characteres, 
Lugd.  1592,  12mo;  the  best  edition  is  the  third,  printed 
at  Lyons  in  1612.  4.  Suetonii  Opera,  with  an  excellent 
Commentary,  Geneva,  1596,  4to;  best  edition  Lutet.  1610, 
folio.  5.  Athenaeus,  Ludg.  1600,  folio;  Ludg.  1612,  folio. 
6.  Persii  Satyrse,  Lutet.  1605,  8vo.  7.  De  Satyrica  Grae- 
corum  Poesi,  Lutet.  1605,  8vo.  8.  Polybii  Opera,  Lutet. 
1609,  fol.  The  dedication  to  Henry  IV".  is  much  admired. 
9.  Exercitationes  contra  Baronium,  London,   1614,  folio. 


500  CASAUBON. 

10.  Novum  Testamentum  Graecum,  Geneva,  1587,  16mo, 
with  notes,  which  were  reprinted  afterwards  at  the  end  of 
Whitaker's  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  London,  and 
inserted  in  the  Critici  Sacri.  11.  Polyaeni  Stratageraatum 
Libri  VIII.  Ludg.  1589,  l6mo.  Casaubon  was  the  first 
who  published  the  Greek  text  of  this  author.  The  Latin 
version,  joined  to  it,  is  by  Justus  Vuheius,  and  first 
pubUshed  in  1550. — SaxU  Onomast.  Burignys  Grotlns. 
Casauhoyis  Works. 


CASAUBON,    MEKIC. 

Meric  Casaubox,  son  of  the  preceding,  was  born  at 
Geneva,  in  1599,  received  his  primary  education  at  Sedan, 
and  in  1616  was  sent  to  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  and  be- 
came a  student.  In  1621  he  pubUshed  a  defence  of  his 
father,  under  the  title  of  Pietas  contra  Maledicos  Patrii 
Nominis  et  Religiones  hostes ;  he  published  another  vindi- 
cation of  his  father  three  years  afterwards,  in  Latin,  by 
the  command  of  James  I.  In  1624  he  had  the  honour  of 
being  preferred  to  the  living  of  Bledon,  in  Somersetshire, 
by  Bishop  Andrewes.  In  1628  Archbishop  Laud  gave 
him  a  stall  at  Canterbury ;  and  in  1636  he  was  created 
D.D.  by  the  university  of  Oxford,  at  the  command  of 
Charles  the  Martyr.  His  grateful  heart  engaged  him 
zealously  in  the  cause  of  the  martyred  King  and  Arch- 
bishop ;  and  though  robbed  of  every  thing  he  possessed  in 
the  world  by  the  triumphant  rebels  and  dominant  puritans, 
he  refused  every  overture  from  Oliver  Cromwell,  who 
wished  him  to  write  an  account  of  the  civil  wars,  asking 
him  to  do  so  with  impartiality,  though  knowing  that  a 
history  of  the  wars  written  by  a  royalist,  if,  appearing  to 
be  impartial,  would  in  fact  be  on  the  side  of  the  rebels. 
He  disdained  the  offer  of  a  pension  or  even  of  a  present 
from  the  usurper,  though,  being  deprived  of  all  his  pro- 
perty, he  was  in  the  deepest  distress.  In  1651  he  consoled 
himself  by  marrying  a  wife,  through  whom  eventually 
he  obtained  a  comfortable  fortune.     At  the  Restoration 


CASE.  601 

Casaubon  was  reinstituted  in  all  his  ecclesiastical  prefer- 
ments, which  he  enjoyed  till  his  death,  July  4,  1671,  in 
his  seventy-second  year.  He  was  buried  in  Canterbury 
cathedral.  He  had  several  children  by  his  wife,  whom  he 
married  in  1651.  His  works,  though  numerous,  are  not 
of  great  value.  His  publication,  entitled  A  Treatise  con- 
cerning Enthusiasm,  as  it  is  an  Effect  of  Nature,  is 
highly  commended  by  Sir  William  Temple,  who  regarded 
it  as  a  successful  attempt  to  account  for  delusions  upon 
natural  principles.  Jones  of  Xayland  also  speaks  highly 
of  it.  In  his  book  on  Credulity  and  Incredulity,  London, 
1668,  8vo,  (second  part,  London,  1670,  8vo,)  he  main- 
tained the  existence  of  witches  and  familiar  spirits. — Gen. 
Diet.     Biog.  Brit. 

CASE,    THOMAS. 

THOius  Case  was  born  in  1598,  and  became  a  student 
of  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  under  the  patronage  of  Toby 
Mathew,  Archbishop  of  York,  in  1616.  He  became  a 
popular  preacher  in  Oxfordshire  and  Kent,  and  held  the 
living  of  Effingham  in  Norfolk :  where  he  was  distin- 
guished for  his  nonconformity,  and  afterwards  for  the 
same  offence  suspended.  His  suspension  was  richly  de- 
served, as  the  reader  will  admit  when  he  hears  that,  having 
entered  with  zeal  into  the  proceedings  of  the  rebel  parlia- 
ment, he  was  accustomed  in  the  administration  of  the 
Holy  Communion  to  say,  instead  of  "  ye  that  do  truly 
and  earnestly  repent,"  &c.,  "  ye  that  have  piety  and  liber- 
ally contributed  to  the  parliament."  It  is  suggested  that 
the  report  of  his  having  acted  thus  was  perhaps  only  a 
party  squib  :  if  it  were  so,  still  how  awful  must  the  irrever- 
ence of  puritanism  have  been,  when  such  a  story  could  be 
believed  of  one  who  was  by  no  means  the  fiercest  of  puri- 
tanical preachers.  It  was  undoubtedly  for  violence  such 
as  this  that  he  was  suspended  by  Bishop  Wren.  He  was 
the  originator  of  the  morning  exercises,  at  which  the 
ablest  puritans  were  accustomed  to  preach ;  and  he  re- 


502  CASSANDER. 

ceived  his  reward,  for  the  unfortunate  incumbent  of 
8t.  Mary  Magdalen,  Milk  Street,  having  been  deprived  of 
his  living  for  his  loyalty,  Case  condescended  to  eat  his 
bread,  and  had  the  sequestered  living  conferred  on  him- 
self. But  Case  was  not  without  a  conscience  :  he  thought 
rebellion  and  republicanism  might  proceed  too  far.  He 
refused  to  take  the  engagement  which  was  an  oath,  sub- 
stituted for  that  of  allegiance,  "to  be  true  and  faithful  to 
the  government  established  without  King  or  house  of 
peers  ;"  and  he  lost  the  living  which  he  unjustly  held :  he 
then  became  lecturer  at  Aldermanbury,  and  at  St.  Giles's, 
Cripplegate.  He  was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower  on  a 
charge  of  being  implicated  in  Love's  plot.  He  became 
rector  of  St.  Gile's-in-the-Fields,  and  in  1661  was  one  of 
the  ministers  in  the  Savoy  Conference.  Case  died  in 
1682. — Calamy .     TVood.     Walker. 


CASSANDER,    GEORGE. 

George  Cassander  was  born  in  1515,  either  at  Bruges, 
or  in  the  Isle  of  Cadsand,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Scheld ; 
from  the  latter  place  he  derived  his  name.  He  taught 
the  Belles  Lettres  at  Ghent,  Bruges,  and  other  places, 
with  great  reputation.  But  afterwards  applying  himself 
to  the  study  of  divinity,  he  retired  to  Cologne,  where  he 
prepared  himself  to  engage  in  what  was  the  object  of  his 
life ;  which  was  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between  Protes- 
tants and  Roman  Catholics.  Upon  this  subject  he  pub- 
lished anonymously,  in  1562,  a  small  De  Officio  Viri  pii, 
on  the  duty  of  a  pious  man  who  loves  peace  in  differences 
concerning  religion.  Calvin  supposed  the  work  to  have 
been  written  by  Beaudouin,  a  celebrated  lawyer,  (Francis- 
cus  Balduinus)  whom  he  attacked  with  his  usual  asperity. 
Beaudouin,  who  had  introduced  the  work  into  France, 
defended  himself  in  the  preface  to  his  edition  of  Optatus, 
and  more  particularly  in  his  De  Libellis  famosis,  in 
which  he  denies  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  tract  De 


CASSANDER.  503 

OfiBcio  Tiri  pii.  Calvin,  with  increased  asperity,  replied 
to  BeauJouin,  and  in  his  reply  he  attacked  the  doctrinal 
portion  of  the  tract,  with  many  gross  personalities,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  author.  It  is  curious  to  observe  how,  even 
down  to  the  present  day,  Calvinists  have  always  been 
found  in  this  respect  to  follow  their  master  ;  in  all  contro- 
versies Calvinists  are  accustomed  to  resort  to  the  arts  of 
personal  abuse.  Upon  this  attack  Cassander  immediately 
discovered  himself,  and  writing  in  defence  of  his  book, 
was  as  moderate  as  Calvin  was  passionate.  He  repub- 
lished it  with  a  dialogue  prefixed  between  two  persons, 
whom  he  calls  Placidius  and  Modes tus. 

In  this  work,  De  Officio  Yiri  pii,  Cassander  says,  "  I 
know  that  there  are  several  persons  who  in  these  unhappy 
differences,  which  divide  almost  the  whole  Christian 
world,  are  in  great  perplexities :  they  perfectly  see  what 
they  ought  to  avoid ;  but  tl^iey  do  not  see  whither  to  retire. 
J  have  formerly  been  myself  tormented  and  agitated  with 
this  tempest,  but  at  last,  I  think,  I  have  found  a  port 
where  I  may  find  shelter."  This  led  him  to  give  his  ad- 
vice, that  he  might  give  the  same  ease  to  those  who  were 
in  the  same  condition  ;  and  the  more,  because  he  was  per- 
suaded that  the  way  which  he  took  was  very  proper  to  pro- 
cure peace  and  concord  "  I  have  (says  he)  ever  had  a  great 
respect  for  the  constitutions  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church, 
detesting  however  all  superstitions  that  I  could  ever  dis- 
cover. This  disposition  led  me  to  approve  of  their  design 
who  required  a  reformation  of  superstitious  ways  of  wor- 
ship :  but  when  I  perceived  that  they  went  too  far,  and 
that  instead  of  being  charitable  physicians,  they  became 
cruel  enemies,  desiring  not  only  to  reform  abuses,  but 
entirely  to  destroy  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  I  thought 
myself  obliged  to  read  the  writings  of  those  that  opposed 
them,  wherein  also  I  found  things  that  did  not  please  me. 
Because,  as  the  former,  out  of  hatred  to  vice,  were  for 
cutting  off  sound  parts,  or  such  as  were  easily  curable  ;  so 
the  latter,  out  of  a  blind  love  for  the  body,  were  for  defend- 
ing even  faults  and  ^dces,  as  things  in  which  there  was  no 


604  CASSANDER. 

harm.  Both  therefore  being  gone  astray  from  the  way 
they  were  to  keep,  some  to  the  right  hand  and  some  to 
the  left,  I  resolved  to  lay  by  all  prejudices,  all  interest  of 
parties,  and  all  engagements,  that  I  might  judge  soundly 
of  these  controversies.  The  first  thing  which  I  thought 
I  was  to  do,  was  to  choose  a  judge,  and  I  found  none 
more  infallible  than  the  Holy  Scriptures,  well  understood  ; 
for  I  quickly  found  that  the  text  of  Holy  Scripture  alone, 
w-as  not  sufficient  to  decide  these  controversies,  because 
the  heretics  make  use  of  Scripture  expressions  as  well  as 
Catholics  ;  that  the  only  way  to  know  the  truth,  and  to 
reject  error,  would  be  to  know  the  true  sense  ;  and  last  of 
all,  that  the  understanding  of  this  sense  depended  upon 
common  consent,  and  the  public  testimony  of  all  Churches, 
to  which  the  Apostles  entrusted  the  sacred  pledge  of  the 
doctrine  which  they  received  from  Jesus  Christ ;  for  those 
who  at  the  beginning  of  the  Church  bore  witness  that  the 
doctrine  contained  in  these  writings  was  Jesus  Christ's 
and  His  Apostles',  have  certainly  also  told  their  successors 
the  true  sense  of  these  writings,  which  they  received  viva 
voce  from  the  Apostles  themselves,  who  explained  this 
doctrine  to  them  in  its  utmost  extent.  This  is  the  univer- 
sal tradition  which  some  call  unwritten  truth,  though  in 
the  questions  which  concern  faith,  there  is  nothing  which 
is  not  some  way  to  be  found  in  Holy  Scripture  ;  and 
though  this  tradition  is  only  an  explication  and  interpre- 
tation of  Scripture,  so  that  it  may  be  said  that  Scripture 
is  a  kind  of  shut  and  sealed  tradition,  and  tradition  is  an 
open  and  unfolded  Scripture."  To  establish  this  rule,  he 
cites  the  testimony  of  Vincentius  Lirinensis,  and  applies 
it  to  the  sense  which  ought  to  be  given  to  the  beginning 
of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John. 

Cassander  then  lays  down  certain  principles  for  his 
guidance,  and  proceeds  with  stating,  that  "being  born  and 
regenerated  in  the  western  or  Roman  Church,  which  retains 
the  Apostolical  doctrine  in  its  fundamental  articles,  which 
observes  the  Sacraments  as  Jesus  Christ  instituted  them, 
in  which  one  sees  the  image  of  several  ceremonies  prac- 


CASSANDER.  505 

tised  in  the  ancient  Church,  in  which  there  is  a  succession 
of  priests  and  bishops  that  govern  it,  though  they  have 
degenerated  from  the  purity  of  their  ancestors,  we  cannot 
hut  honour  this  Church  as  a  true  one,  as  the  temple  of 
God,  and  as  a  considerable  part  of  the  cathoUc  Church ; 
though,  added  he,  I  own  that  this  Church  has  much  de- 
generated from  its  ancient  beauty  and  its  primitive  splen- 
dour ;  that  it  is  sullied  with  several  vices  ;  attacked  by 
various  diseases,  and  sometimes  unhappily  oppressed  by 
the  tyranny  of  its  governors.  I  attribute,  he  further  ob- 
serves, all  these  things  to  that  outward  society  which  we 
call  the  western  or  Roman  Church,  because  it  preserves 
the  Word  of  God,  and  the  Sacraments,  and  contains  great 
numbers  of  the  elect  who  compose  the  true  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  His  spouse,  though  there  are  in  that 
society  several  persons,  even  among  those  that  govern  it, 
that  do  not  belong  to  the  Qhurch  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  are 
enemies  of  Him  and  of  His  doctrine,  and  exercise  tyranny 
as  if  they  were  strangers.  He  declares  also,  that  he  is 
not  disposed  to  condemn  persons  who  persevering  in  the 
foundations  of  Apostolical  doctrine,  and  being  persuaded 
that  there  are  abuses  to  be  reformed,  would  undertake 
this  reformation ;  and  being  authorized  by  the  sovereign 
powers,  would  change  some  ceremonies  for  the  public 
good,  provided  it  be  done  without  scandal,  trouble,  or 
schism  :  but  then  he  cannot  commend  those  who,  under 
a  pretence  of  going  as  far  as  possible  from  the  abuses  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  go  from  the  Church  itself,  and  leave 
her  communion,  and  seem  to  have  no  other  aim  but  to 
destroy  and  ruin  her.  Nor  does  he  approve  of  some  of 
the  governors  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  who  cannot  suffer 
any  abuses  which  need  reformation  should  be  discovered, 
and  persecute  and  kill  those  that  give  them  notice  of 
them.  But  then  he  is  not  for  charging  the  Church  of 
Rome  with  the  faults  of  some  of  its  governors ;  nor  does 
he  think  it  therefore  ceases  to  be  a  tine  Church." 

Then  he  raises   this  objection.     Some  will  tell  me  that 

VOL  ill.  '^  X 


oC)6  CASSANDER. 

the  papists  came  indeed  out  of  the  true  Church,  but  apos- 
tatized through  false  and  new  opinions,  and  by  impious 
ways  of  worship  ;  and  consequently  we  ought  to  separate 
from  them,  as  from  the  church  of  Antichrist,  and  the 
synagogue  of  Satan.  He  answers,  that  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  difference  between  degenerating  from  the  purity  of 
the  doctrine  and  manners  of  the  ancient  and  primitive 
Church  and  being  no  longer  a  Church :  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  foundation  and  head  of  the  Church ;  and  that  if 
His  successors  have  upon  this  foundation  built  false  doc- 
trines, yet,  provided  they  do  not  destroy  the  foundation  of 
those  doctrines,  the  Church  ceases  not  to  be  a  Church. 
That  all  those  who  hold  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
have  charity  "withal,  though  they  are  of  different  opinions, 
and  observe  different  customs,  yet  are  of  the  Church,  and 
ought  not  to  be  looked  upon  as  schismatics,  though  they 
are  rejected  by  the  most  powerful  part  of  the  Church*  and 
seem  to  be  separated  from  its  communion ;  because  it  is 
not  an  outward  separation,  but  the  cause  of  such  a  separa- 
tion which  makes  a  schismatic  :  "which,"  says  he,  "I  say 
only  of  those  who  are  uneasy  at  this  separation,  who 
ardently  desire  peace  and  reconciliation,  and  w^ho  are 
united  by  the  bonds  of  faith  and  charity  with  those  of  the 
outward  communion,  from  which  they  separate,  and  who 
are  ready  to  re-enter  into  their  communion." 

Cassander,  like  most  moderators,  gave  offence  to  all 
parties,  to  papists  as  well  as  calvinists,  though  he  held 
as  nearly  as  possible  what  an  Anglican  would  call  the 
via  media,  making  this  allowance,  that  he  was  writing 
while  in  communion  with  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  would 
palliate  some  practices  which  we  should  at  once  condemn. 
There  were  moderate  men  among  the  Lutherans,  who 
sympathized  with  him  in  his  design ;  and  the  German 
princes  fixed  upon  him  as  a  mediator  in  the  religious 
disputes  of  the  day.  William,  Duke  of  Cleves,  sent  for 
him  to  Duisburg,  in  1564,  to  examine  the  cause  of  the 
Anabaptists,    and  Cassander  proceeded  to  consider  the 


CASSANDER.  507 

whole  question  of  Infant  Baptism.  This  being  one  of 
those  questions  which  cannot  be  decided  by  a  direct  appeal 
to  Scripture,  he  recurred  to  tradition  and  the  ancient 
usage  of  the  catholic  Church,  and  shewed  that  the  opinion 
of  those  who  objected  to  the  baptism  of  infants  was  a 
new  error.  He  then  lays  down  propositions  taken  from 
Scripture,  upon  which  he  founds  the  practice  of  Infant 
Baptism. 

1.  "  That  all  men  are  bom  under  the  guilt  of  sin,  in  a 
state  of  death,  the  objects  of  Gods  wrath,  and  subject  to 
damnation. 

a.  "  That  infants  cannot  be  saved,  unless  they  be  puri- 
fied from  this  sin,  redeemed  from  this  death,  regenerated 
by  Jesus  Christ,  and  delivered  by  His  Blood  from  eternal 
damnation. 

3.  "  That  this  remission  of  sins,  which  is  made  by  vir- 
tue of  the  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  relates  to  children  ;  and 
that  no  man  ought  to  be  excluded  from  the  covenant 
which  God  has  made  with  man,  from  the  promises  of 
grace,  from  the  adoption,  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

4.  "  That  the  sign  of  this  covenant,  and  of  this  society, 
relates  to  infants  as  weU  as  others ;  as  the  example  of  the 
circumcision  of  infants  in  the  Old  Testament  is  a  proof 
of. 

5.  "  That  Baptism  is  not  only  a  sign  of  forgiveness  of 
sins,  but  also  a  means  and  instrument  instituted  and 
ordained  by  Jesus  Christ  to  obtain  it,  and  for  us  to  be 
redeemed  and  regenerated  by  it ;  whence  it  follows,  that 
infants  that  are  born  under  the  guilt  of  sin,  and  sub- 
ject to  death,  cannot  obtain  forgiveness  of  their  sins, 
be  regenerated  by  a  spiritual  regeneration,  made  mem- 
bers of  the  Body  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  become  His 
children  by  adoption,  if  they  receive  not  the  sign,  the 
pledge,  and  the  instrument  of  remission,  regeneration, 
and  adoption,  (i.  e.)  baptism.  Then  he  shews  the  tradition 
of  the  holy  fathers  of  the  Church  for  Infant  Baptism,  be- 
ginning with  St.  Irenaeus,  and  ending  with  St.  Augustine. 
He  confirms  at  last  what  he  had  said  of  the  universal 


;j08  CASSANDEK. 

practice  of  the  Church  relating  to  Infant  Baptism,  by  the 
practice  of  the  Greeks,  Muscovites,  ^Ethiopians,  and  other 
Christians  of  communions  which  have  been  long  separated 
from  the  Church  of  Rome.  He  admits  there  is  some 
diversity  about  the  rites  of  baptism,  and  the  time  of  bap- 
tizing, because  formerly  they  never  baptized  solemnly  but 
at  Easter  and  at  Whitsuntide,  and  in  some  churches  at 
the  feast  of  Epiphany.  But  then  he  asserts  that  all  the 
variety  in  this  matter  was,  that  upon  those  days  children 
were  baptized  like  adults  in  all  churches ;  and  that  when 
they  were  in  danger  of  death,  they  were  baptized  at  all 
times." 

He  wrote  also  another  treatise  concerning  Infant  Bap- 
tism, in  which  he  lays  down  three  propositions. 

1.  "  That  salvation  and  eternal  life  belong  not  to 
children  born  in  the  Church,  but  only  to  those  who  are 
sanctified  and  consecrated  by  baptism. 

•2.  "  That  infants  born  in  the  Church  need  to  be  regen- 
erated, (i.  e.)  to  have  their  sins  forgiven  them,  and  to  be 
adopted,  to  obtain  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

3.  "  That  those  who  want  to  be  regenerated  in  order  to 
obtain  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  ought  to  receive  baptism^ 
which  is  the  Sacrament  of  that  regeneration." 

Having  laid  down  those  propositions  upon  solid  princi- 
ples, he  answers  the  objections  of  the  Anabaptists. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Cassander  maintains  the  only 
ground  on  which  Infant  Baptism  can  be  defended,  namely, 
that  it  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  two  fundamental 
truths  of  the  Gospel,  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  and  the 
doctrine  of  Baptismal  Regeneration.  He  says,  "  some 
persons  in  our  time  have  maintained  that  children  ought 
to  be  baptized,  only  b^ause  they  are  sanctified  and  made 
children  by  adoption  already  in  their  mother's  womb  ;  for 
which  reason  they  believe,  that  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism 
belongs  only  to  those  who  are  born  of  faithful  parents. 
This  notion  he  rejects,  and  proposes  a  second.  Others, 
he  observes,  say  children  ought  to  be  baptized,  because, 
let  their  parents  be  believers  or  unbelievers,   still  they  are 


CASSANDER.  5U9 

bom  under  sin,  liable  to  damnation,  unworthy  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,   and  unable  to  be  delivered  from  that  sin  if 
they  are  not  baptized.     Among  these,   some  pretend  that 
infants  are  justified  by  an  actual  motion  of  faith ;  others 
think,  it  is  by  the  faith  of  the  Church.     It  is  allowed  by 
everybody  that  baptism  is  given  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
and   adoption  ;   but  those  that  think  the  infants  of  the 
faithful  are  sanctified  from  their  mother's  womb,   allow  no 
other  ejffect  to  baptism,  but  that  of  certifying  and  confirm- 
ing that  sanctification.     Others  on  the  contrary  believe, 
that  by  baptism,  men  obtain  remission  of  sins  and  adop- 
tion :  but  among  these,   some  annex  these  effects  so  par- 
ticularly to  the  reception  of  the  outward  sign,   that  they 
believe  that  children  who  are  deprived  of  it  by  an  unavoid- 
able necessity,  and  not  by  the  negligence  of  their  parents, 
are  also  deprived  of  eternal  life,  and  of  salvation.     Others 
think  that  baptism  has  indeed  this  virtue  ;  but  then  what 
is  said  of  adults  may  also  be  applied  to  infants  ;   namely, 
that  a  resolution  of  receiving  is  sufficient ;  and  that   we 
do  not  lose  its  effects,  when  we  are  incapacitated  to  receive 
it,  not  out  of  a  contempt  of  religion,  but  by  an  unavoid- 
able necessity :  that  God  receives  the  will  for  the  deed, 
and  obliges  not  to  impossibilities  :  that  the   will  of  the 
parents   and  of  the  godfathers  ought  to  be  considered  as 
the  children's  own  will.    For  this  opinion  he  cites  Cajetan, 
Gerson,    Gabriel  Biel,    Tilman,   a  divine  of  Cologne,   a 
Dominican,   and  Thomas  Elysius,  who  wrote  a  large  dis- 
course,  entitled,   Piorum  Clypeus  adversus  Hasreticorum 
pravitatem,  out  of  which  he  produces  large  extracts,  which 
clearly  shew  that  divines  have  been  of  that  opinion.     He 
adds,  that  men  are  much  gone  off  from  that  rigour  with 
which  they  use  to  speak  of  the  state  of  infants  that  die 
-iivithout   receiving   baptism :  that   most   of  the   ancients 
Imld  that  they  should  be  condemned  to  eternal  punish- 
ments :  that  the  schoolmen  have  softened  that  notion,  by 
asserting,  that  they  do  not  suffer  the  pain  of  sense,   that 
is  of  fire,  but  only  of  loss,   which  consists  only  in  being 
2x2 


510  CASSANDER. 

deprived  of  the  sight  of  God  :  that  the  ancients  believed 
that  baptism  ought  to  be  complete  to  procure  salvation  to 
infants ;  whereas  Bonaventure  on  the  other  side  believed, 
that  if  an  infant  died  whilst  the  minister  was  baptizing  of 
it,  and  before  he  had  quite  done,  God  would  shew  mercy 
to  that  infant.  "  What  inconvenience,  (says  Cassander)  is 
there  in  extending  this  to  the  parents'  vows,  who  get  all 
ready  to  have  their  child  baptized  ?  And  if  the  actual 
faith  of  infants  can  be  supplied  by  the  faith  of  the  Church, 
in  those  that  are  baptized,  why  can  it  not  be  so  in  those 
who  have  an  interpretative  faith  in  the  design  and  will 
of  the  parents  ?  Why  may  they  not  be  considered  as 
catechumens,  and  so  thought  capable  of  the  same  grace ?' 
This  is  what  Cassander  labours  to  prove  concerning  the 
infants  w4iom  their  believing  parents  intended  to  have 
had  baptized,  if  they  die  before  they  could  actually  receive 
baptism.  But  he  is  not  of  their  opinion,  who  think  that 
all  children  born  in  the  Church  of  believing  parents,  are 
sanctified  by  virtue  of  God's  promise,  without  any  regard 
to  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism,  as  not  being  necessary  for 
the  remission  of  sin.  And  as  to  those  who  are  born  of 
unbelieving  parents,  and  die  without  baptism,  he  does  not 
question  their  being  deprived  of  blessedness  ;  but  he  is  of 
the  opinion  of  the  schoolmen,  who  think  they  do  not 
suffer  the  pain  of  sense  ;  and  herein  he  declares  that  he 
forsakes  St.  Augustine.  He  acknowledges  however  that 
he  does  not  intend  to  defend  this  notion  obstinately,  nor 
to  condemn  those  who,  grounding  upon  the  authority  of 
the  ancients  and  the  custom  of  the  Church,  allow  salvation 
only  to  those  infants  to  whom  God  gives  the  grace  of  receiv- 
ing baptism.  He  confesses  that  he  embraced  the  opinion 
now  explained,  only  because  he  found  it  was  the  gentlest, 
the  most  comforting,  and  the  least  shocking  to  abundance 
of  people.  And  at  last  he  protests,  that  he  submits  his 
opinion  with  all  his  heart  to  the  judgment  of  the  divines 
of  the  catholic  Church,  w^ho  are  more  discerning  than 
himself;  and  that  he  had  been  led  to  entertain  it,  not  out 


CASSANDER.  511 

of  obstinacy,  or  a  love  of  novelty,  but  out  of  a  motive  of 
piety,  and  a  desire  of  the  common  salvation.  ^ 

Among  his  works  we  find  a  discourse  entitled  Liturgica, 
or  of  the  Rite  and  Order  of  the  celebration  of  our  Lord  s 
Supper,  which  the  Greeks  call  Liturgia,  and  the  Latins 
Missa.  This  book  is  only  a  collection  of  passages  out  of 
ecclesiastical  authors  upon  all  parts  of  the  mass,  made 
with  choice  and  judgment.  Next  comes  the  Ordo  Roma- 
nus,  before  which  he  puts  a  learned  preface ;  in  which, 
after  having  reprehended  those  that  published  treatises 
of  the  rites  of  the  ancient  Church  very  confusedly  under 
Charlemagne's  name,  he  says,  that  this  Ordo  Romanus 
was  drawn  up  by  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  who  reformed 
Gelasius's  ;  that  Charles  the  Great  introduced  that  custom 
in  all  the  countries  of  his  dominions  ;  that  France  and 
Italy,  all  but  the  Church  of  Milan,  had  very  readily  re- 
ceived it ;  that  the  Spaniards  long  retained  their  ancient 
custom ;  but  that  they  were  forced  at  last  to  receive  it 
against  their  wills  under  Pope  Gregory  VII.  and  King 
Alphonsus  VI.  He  derives  the  word  mass  from  the  dis- 
mission of  the  people.  He  takes  notice,  that  that  word 
was  formerly  given  to  none  but  public  masses.  He  shews, 
that  it  was  long  the  custom  of  the  Church  to  distribute 
the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  to  all  the  assistants.  He 
thinks  private  masses  were  first  introduced  into  monas- 
teries, when  the  monks  desired  to  celebrate  the  holy  mys- 
teries without  calling  the  people  together ;  that  the  bishops 
also  gave  it  countenance  when  they  said  mass  in  the  cha- 
pels of  their  own  houses  ;  and  that  at  last  they  became 
very  frequent,  especially  in  monasteries.  He  mentions 
the  masses  of  the  Proe-Sanctificati,  used  among  the  Greeks, 
which  Cardinal  Humbert  disapproves.  He  blames  the 
masses  said  at  two,  three,  and  four  faces,  which  were  in 
use  some  time  ago  in  France  :  these  were  several  different 
masses,  said  as  far  as  the  offertory,  and  followed  only  by 
the  canon.  He  does  not  forget  also  to  speak  of  the  diy 
masses,  in  which  there  was  no  consecration  nor  com- 
munion, and  which  ought  never  to  be  said  but  when  they 


6ia  CASSANDER. 

could  not  celebrate  an  entire  mass.  At  the  end  of  the 
Ordo  Romanus,  is  put  an  explication  of  some  liturgical 
terms,  and  of  the  names  of  ecclesiastical  ofiQcers  made  by 
Peter,  Bishop  of  Oviedo. 

While  he  was  at  Duisburg,  in  1564,  the  Emperor 
Ferdinand,  who  was  also  desirous  of  re-uniting  the  pro- 
testants,  summoned  Cassander  to  attend  him,  but  he  was 
obliged  to  seek  permission  to  decline  the  invitation,  as  he 
was  unable  to  take  so  long  a  journey  on  account  of  the 
gout,  to  which,  through  life,  he  was  a  martyr.  But  he 
offered  to  write  to  his  majesty  on  the  subject,  or  to  confer 
with  any  whom  he  might  commission  to  act  in  his  name. 
The  Emperor  admitted  the  excuse,  and  accepted  the  offer. 
He  desired  him  to  draw  up  a  summary  of  catholic  doc- 
trine, in  which  he  should  explain  the  controverted  articles 
of  the  confession  of  Augsburg,  marking  those  on  which 
there  was  a  prospect  of  agreement,  and  assigning  the 
reasons  why  the  others  should  not  be  given  up.  This 
gave  rise  to  the  celebrated  work  Consul tatio  Cassandri. 
It  was  dedicated  to  the  Emperor  Maximilian  II.  the  suc- 
cessor of  Ferdinand,  and  it  was  sent  by  the  Emperor  to 
the  Electors  of  Cologne  and  Mentz,  and  he  desired  the 
author  to  attend  him.  In  the  preface  to  his  Consultatio 
Cassandri,  the  author  lays  down  the  same  rules  which  he 
had  laid  down  in  his  De  Officio  Viri  pii,  to  judge  contro- 
versies by ;  namely,  the  Holy  Scripture  explained  by  the 
tradition  of  the  ancient  Church,  which  he  would  have 
determined  by  the  works  of  authors,  who  have  written 
from  the  time  of  Constantine  to  St.  Leo,  and  St.  Gregory. 
The  doctrine  and  government  of  the  Church  during  those 
times  is  what  he  would  have  followed,  in  order  to  decide 
all  differences  in  religion,  both  in  doctrine  and  ceremonies. 
He  says,  there  are  several  reasons  for  pitching  upon  that 
term  : — 1.  Because,  during  that  interval  of  time,  the  prin- 
cipal articles  of  religion  were  discussed,  cleared,  explained, 
declared  and  defined  against  heretics,  by  very  learned 
writers,  and  by  the  decisions  of  famous  councils.  2.  Be- 
cause the  Church,  which  till  then  had  been  under  the 


CASSANDER.  513 

tyranny  of  pagan  Emperors,  was  set  at  liberty,  and  had 
received  such  a  form  of  government,  as  was  most  con- 
venient for  it.  3.  Because  there  were,  during  that  interval 
of  time,  very  holy  and  very  understanding  bishops,  who 
faithfully  preserved  the  doctrine  which  they  received  from 
the  Apostles,  who  faithfully  taught  it  to  the  Churches, 
and  who  were  very  far  from  that  ambition,  avarice,  and 
ignorance,  by  which  the  Church  was  afterwards  over- 
whelmed. He  adds,  that  if  the  present  Church  be  com- 
pared to  that,  we  shall  find  many  things  in  which  they 
agree ;  though  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  present  Church 
has  much  degenerated  from  the  purity  and  splendour  of 
that  ancient  Church  in  form  of  doctrine,  as  well  as  in 
ceremonies  ;  and  that  the  discipline  of  the  Church  is  ex- 
ceedingly changed  :  that  if  both  parties  would  agree  to 
conform  to  that  Church,  there  would  be  a  way  open  to 
restore  peace  and  concord,  provided  they  would  lay  down 
on  both  sides  the  spirit  of  enmity  and  hatred,  and  enter 
into  charitable  dispositions  towards  one  another:  that 
some  would  labour  seriously  to  reform  the  principal  abuses 
which  have  given  occasion  to  schism  ;  and  others  would 
abandon  the  innovations  which  they  have  introduced,  and 
submit  to  the  authority  of  the  catholic  Church  ;  abstain 
from  injuries  and  invectives,  and  bear  with  and  dissemble 
any  abuses  which  may  still  remain  that  choke  them,  for 
the  sake  of  peace.  That  then  they  will  have  nothing 
more  to  do,  but  sincerely,  and  without  prejudice,  enquire 
what  has  been  the  constant  practice  of  the  primitive 
Church  :  however,  that  all  passages  out  of  the  fathers  are 
not  equally  proper  to  acquaint  us  with  it,  because  some- 
times they  have  given  their  private  opinions  concerning 
questions,  about  which  the  most  able  and  most  excellent 
defenders  of  the  apostolical  doctrine  may  be  divided  ;  but 
we  ought  to  lean  upon  such  passages  as  give  a  constant 
and  unanimous  testimony  to  the  general  and  public  faith 
of  the  whole  Church.  Lastly,  that  we  ought  also  to  take 
notice,  that  all  things  which  we  see  have  been  received 


614  CASSANDER. 

and  observed  in  the  primitive  Church,  are  not  of  the  same 
authority.  He  takes  notice  of  the  four  degrees  he  had 
before  set  down  in  his  De  Officio  Viri  pii.  He  adds, 
that  we  ought  not  to  despise  those  that  lived  since  the 
sixth  century ;  that  some  of  those  authors  are  esteemed 
even  by  protestants  themselves,  as  St.  Bernard,  and 
St.  Bonaventure ;  and  that,  lastly,  it  would  be  convenient, 
in  order  to  procure  peace,  to  read  the  most  moderate 
writings  of  both  sides,  which  will  shew  us,  that  in  several 
things  we  are  not  so  far  asunder,  but  we  might  easily  be 
made  to  agree. 

In  the  body  of  the  book,  he  follows  the  order  of  the 
articles  of  the  Augsburg  confession,  and  observes  upon 
every  article  wherein  the  protestants  are  contrary  to  the 
sentiments  of  the  Church,  and  what  he  thinks  may  be 
conceded  to  them  without  hurting  the  faith ;  and  wherein 
the  protestants  on  their  parts  ought  to  conform  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Church. 

The  great  and  good  author  of  this  work  was  unable  to 
attend  the  imperial  summons,  being  confined  to  his  bed 
by  the  gout,  of  which  he  died  in  1566.  He  avoided 
honour  and  wealth,  and  lived  privately,  and  neither  in 
his  manners  nor  in  his  writings  did  he  ever  exhibit  either 
arrogance  or  presumption,  though  his  learning  was  pro- 
found, and  the  provocations  he  received  many.  His  works, 
many  of  which  were  condemned  by  the  Romish  assembly 
of  Trent,  were  collected  and  published  in  one  volume, 
folio,  at  Paris,  in  1616.  To  this  edition  his  letters  are 
appended,  and  two  conferences  with  the  Anabaptists  never 
before  published.  Among  his  letters  is  one  to  Cox,  Bishop 
of  Ely,  who  had  consulted  him  about  the  image  of  the 
crucifix.  He  answers,  that  all  men  know  how  much  the 
primitive  Christians  respected  the  sign  of  the  cross,  which 
they  painted  and  placed  in  profane  and  sacred  places, 
before  the  use  of  other  images  was  introduced.  He  con- 
cludes, that  this  custom  being  very  old,  ought  not  to  be 
aiXJused  of  superstition.     What  he  c-ould  wish  for  is  only 


CASSIAN.  515 

this;  first,  that  crosses  were  made  like  that  on  which 
Jesus  Christ  was  fastened,  with  a  board  on  the  middle, 
on  which  His  feet  were  placed,  as  St.  Irenaeus  and 
St.  Gregory  of  Tours  represent  it:  secondly,  that  some 
passages  in  the  New  Testament  were  written  round  the 
crosses ;  in  which  the  mysteries  of  the  cross  are  men- 
tioned, and  which  might  explain  their  signification. — 
Dupin.  Moreri  Freheri  Theatrum.  Blount's  Censura. 
Saxii  Onomasticon. 


CASSIAN,    OR   CASSIANUS. 

Clemens  Alexandrinus  mentions  Julius  Cassianus  as 
the  founder  of  the  sect  of  the  Docetse  ;  and  refers  to  one 
of  his  works,  entitled,  Concerning  Continence,  from  which 
it  appears  that  he  adopted  the  nofions  of  Tatian  respecting 
the  impurity  of  marriage.  He  quoted  passages  from 
Apocryphal  Scriptures,  and  perverted  passages  from  the 
genuine  Scriptures,  in  order  to  support  his  opinions. 
Clement  says  that  "  he  had  recourse  to  the  fiction — that 
Christ  was  only  a  man  in  appearance — through  unwilling- 
ness to  believe  that  he  had  been  born  of  the  Virgin,  or 
partaken  in  any  way  of  generation."  Clement  accuses 
him  of  borrowing  from  Plato  his  notions  respecting  the 
evil  nature  of  generation ;  as  well  as  the  notion  that  the 
soul  was  originally  divine,  but  being  rendered  efieminate 
by  desire,  came  down  from  above  to  this  world  of  genera- 
tion and  destruction, 

Clement  mentions  incidentally  that  the  Phrygians  (the 
lilontanists)  called  those  who  did  not  believe  in  the  new 
prophecy,  animal  (%J.uxtxot;f.) 

It  is  stated  in  the  extracts  from  the  writings  of  the 
prophets,  that  Hermogenes  inferred  from  psalm  xix.  4, 
that  our  Saviour,  when  he  laid  aside  his  body  {aKrivufAxx,, 
fleshly  tabernacle),  deposited  it  in  the  sun. — Bishop  Kays 
Clemens  Alexandriiius. 


510  CASSIAN. 


CASS  FAN,    JOHN. 


John  Cassian  was  a  native  of  Lesser  Syria,  then 
comprised  under  Thrace.  He  devoted  himself  to  God 
from  early  life,  and  as  no  peace  or  security  could  be 
obtained  in  those  days,  in  the  East  especially,  except  in  a 
monastery,  he  retired  to  the  monastery  of  Bethlehem. 
He  afterwards  went  to  Egypt  and  Thebais  to  benefit  by 
the  instruction  and  example  of  the  monks  resident  there, 
and  at  the  end  of  seven  years,  having  revisited  the  monas- 
tery of  Bethlehem,  he  retired  into  the  desert  of  Scythia. 
Annoyed  by  the  contentions  between  the  monks  of  Egypt 
and  the  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  he  went  with  his  friend 
Germanus,  in  403,  to  Constantinople,  where,  as  it  will  be 
presently  seen  from  his  own  information,  he  was  ordained 
deacon  by  St.  Chrysostom,  who  employed  him  in  his  own 
church.  After  the  banishment  of  that  holy  prelate,  Cas- 
sian and  Germanus  travelled  to  Rome  to  vindicate  the  cha- 
racter of  St.  Chrysostom  before  the  clergy  of  the  Western 
Church.  He  was  afterwards  ordained  priest  in  the  West, 
and  probably  never  returned  to  the  East.  He  was  one 
of  the  great  promoters  of  monachism  in  the  Western 
Church.  It  was  long  held  in  contempt  and  dislike, 
especially  in  Rome.  But  Martin,  Bishop  of  Tours,  from 
the  year  375  to  404,  founded  a  large  cloister  in  that  city, 
and  was  very  successful  in  introducing  monachism  into 
Gaul.  And  soon  after  Cassian  founded  two  monasteries, 
one  for  men  and  the  other  for  women,  at  Marseilles.  It 
is  said  that  he  presided  over  five  thousand  monks,  and  is 
regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  famous  abbey  of  St.  Victor 
of  Marseilles. 

It  was  in  his  monastery  that  he  composed  all  his  works; 
the  first  of  which  is  his  Institutio  Monachorum,  but  his 
chief  work  is  his  Book  of  Conferences,  in  which  he  has 
collected  the  spiritual  maxims  of  the  wisest  and  most  ex- 
perienced monks  with  whom  he  had  conversed  in  Egypt. 
This  work  consists  of  three  parts,  and  was  written  in  423  ; 
the  second  comprises  seven  conferences,  and  was  compiled 


CASSIAN.  517 

two  years  later;  the  third  was  finished  in  428,  and  contains 
seven  other  conferences.  Cassian  was  attacked  by  Prosper, 
the  friend  and  disciple  of  St.  Augustine,  because,  in  the 
18th  conference,  under  the  name  of  Cheremon,  he  appears 
to  favour  the  principles  of  the  Semi-pelagians,  though  that 
error  was  not  then  condemned,  it  being  first  proscribed 
by  the  second  council  of  Orange,  in  5'29.  Prosper  himself 
never  names  Cassian  but  styles  him  a  Catholic  doctor. 
The  -2 1st  conference,  which  is  the  one  which  contains 
most  of  interest  for  an  Anglican  reader,  is  that  of  Theonas. 
He  describes  his  own  conversion,  and  relates  how  he  left 
his  wife  against  her  will,  to  retire  into  a  monastery. 
But  Cassian  is  careful  to  advertise  us,  that  he  does  not 
propound  this  example  as  lawful  to  be  imitated.  Lastly, 
the  question  is  put  why  the  monks  observe  no  fasting- 
days  from  Easter  to  Whitsuntide  ?  For  resolution  of  this 
question,  he  lays  it  down,  that  fasting  is  in  itself  a  thing 
indifferent,  and  not  always  convenient  to  be  used ;  and 
maintains,  that  it  is  an  Apostolic  tradition  not  to  fast 
in  those  days  of  joy.  This  question  gives  occasion  for 
another,  why  Lent,  in  some  places,  is  kept  six  weeks,  in 
others  seven,  since  neither  way,  if  we  take  away  Saturday 
and  Sunday,  it  is  not  of  forty  days  continuance  ?  Theonas 
answers,  that  the  thirty-six  days  of  Lent  contained  in  the 
six  weeks,  make  the  tenth  part  of  the  year  which  is  holy 
to  God.  That  those  whose  Lent  is  seven  weeks  long, 
have  thirty-six  fasting-days,  without  counting  Saturdays 
and  Sundays,  because  the  fast  of  the  holy  Saturday, 
which  they  continue  without  interruption  to  Easter  Sun- 
day, may  well  pass  for  two  :  that  those,  who  keep  a  six 
weeks  Lent  only,  fast  on  Saturday.  In  sum,  that  the 
time  is  called  Quadragesima,  although  we  fast  but  thirty- 
six  days,  because  Moses,  Elias,  and  Jesus  Christ  fasted 
forty  days :  that  the  perfect  are  not  tied  to  this  law,  which 
was  ordained  for  those  only  who  spend  all  their  lives  in 
pleasure  and  delights,  that  being  forced  by  a  law  they 
may  at  least  spend  that  time  in  Gods  service.     But  as  to 

VOL.  TIT.  2t 


518  CASSIAN. 

those  who  give  their  life  entirely  to  God,  this  law  was  not 
intended  for  them,  they  are  freed  from  paying  these  tithes. 
Upon  this  ground,  he  affirms,  that  there  was  no  Lent 
observed  in  the  primitive  Church,  and  that  it  was  estab- 
lished for  no  other  reason  but  because  of  the  negligence 
of  the  faithful.  Lastly,  Theonas  concludes,  that  it  is  love 
that  makes  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel  lighter  and  easier 
to  be  borne  than  those  of  the  law.  About  the  end,  Ger- 
manus  asks  him,  why  those,  who  fast  much,  do  find  them- 
selves often  troubled  with  the  temptations  of  the  flesh  ? 
The  resolution  of  this  question  is  put  off  to  the  next  con- 
ference, where  be  treats  of  temptations  to  sin  in  sleep, 
which  happen  either  through  immoderate  eating,  or 
through  negligence,  or  lastly,  by  the  craft  of  the  devil. 
These  last  are  no  sin :  and  if  the  judgment  of  this  abbot 
may  be  followed,  they  need  not  hinder  us  from  approacli- 
ing  the  Holy  Sacrament.  Although  we  ought  to  receive 
it  not  without  much  dread,  and  believing  ourselves  unwor- 
thy :  that  we  must  be  truly  holy,  that  we  may  approach 
it ;  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  without  sin,  because 
then  nobody  may  receive  it,  since  none  but  Jesus  Christ  is 
free  from  all  sin.  In  the  23rd  conference  the  same  abbot 
explains  this  text  of  St.  Paul,  "  the  good  that  I  would, 
I  do  not ;  and  the  evil  that  I  would  not,  that  I  do;"  and 
some  other  places  of  like  nature.  He  holds  that  we  must 
understand  them  of  St.  Paul  and  the  Apostles,  and  not  of 
sinners.  For  the  explication  of  them,  he  says,  that  the 
good  which  man  cannot  do,  is  absolute  perfection,  and  a 
total  freedom  from  sin.  He  adds,  that  those  that  aim  at 
a  state  of  perfection  often  fall  themselves,  drawn  away  by 
the  motions  of  the  flesh  and  passions,  and  therefore  ac- 
knowledge the  necessity  of  grace.  He  owns,  that  concu- 
piscence is  an  effect  of  Adam's  sin,  which  hath  brought 
mankind  into  bondage.  That  Jesus  Christ  came  to  deli- 
ver him  from  it,  and  that  he  hath  done  it,  by  restoi-ing 
him  again  his  liberty  entire,  and  not  by  clogging  it.  That 
although  we  have  the  knowledge  of  goodness,   and  desire 


CASSIAN.  519 

spiritual  and  celestial  goods,  the  flesh  often  puUs  us  down 
to  the  earth,  and  fills  us  with  earthly  desires,  which  do 
not  indeed  harr}'  good  men  into  enormous  sins,  but  yet 
make  them  fall  into  venial  sins,  and  so  the  most  holy 
and  just  men  do  truly  call  themselves  sinners,  and  desire 
of  God  every  day  the  pardon  of  their  offences.  That  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  avoid  all  sin  even  in  our  prayers, 
either  through  distraction  or  carelessness ;  but  yet  these 
sins  ought  not  to  discourage  us  from  receiving  the 
communion. 

Cassian  having  finished  this  work  before  the  year  429, 
was  resolved  to  continue  silent,  and  WTite  no  more ;  but 
he  was  over-persuaded  by  the  great  Leo,  who  was  then  arch- 
deacon of  Rome,  to  write  a  treatise  upon  the  Incarnation, 
against  the  heresy  of  Nestorius,  which  then  began  to 
spread  itself;  in  which  he  confutes  the  first  sermon  of 
Nestorius.  This  work  is  divided  into  seven  books.  In 
the  first,  having  compared  heresy  to  an  Hydra,  he  makes 
a  catalogue  of  the  principal  heresies :  and,  insisting  upon 
the  Pelagian  heresy,  he  observes,  that  the  error  of  those 
who  hold  that  it  was  not  a  Gt)d,  but  a  man  that  was  born 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  was  taken  from  the  principles  of  the 
Pelagians.  Leporius  was  the  first  author  of  that  erroneous 
doctrine,  and  preached  it  to  the  French,  but  retracted  it 
in  Africa.  In  the  second  and  third  books  he  proves,  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  God  and  man,  and  the  Virgin  may  be 
called  the  mother  of  God.  In  the  fourth  he  endeavours  to 
shew,  that  there  is  but  only  one  hypostasis  or  person  in 
Jesus  Christ.  In  the  fifth  he  comes  to  a  close  examina- 
tion of  the  error  of  Nestorius:  he  confutes  his  thesis,  and 
shews,  that  the  union  of  the  two  natures  in  one  person 
alone,  makes  it  lawful  to  attribute  to  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ,  whatsoever  agree  to  both  natures.  In  the  last 
place  he  proves,  that  the  union  of  the  two  natures  is  not 
a  moral  union  only,  nor  a  dwelling  of  the  divinity  in  the 
human  nature  as  in  a  temple,  as  Nestorius  asserts ;  but 
it  is  a  real  union  of  the  two  natures  in  one  person.  In 
the  sixth  he  falls  upon  Nestorius  with  the  creed  of  the 


520  CASSIAN. 

Church  of  Antioch,  where  he  was  brought  up,  taught,  and 
baptized.  Some  have  needlessly  enquired,  by  what  coun- 
cil of  Antioch  that  creed  was  made.  Cassian  speaks  of 
the  creed  which  was  usually  recited  in  the  Church  of 
Antioch,  and  not  of  a  creed  composed  by  any  council  of 
Antioch.  But  we  must  not  forget  here  what  Cassian 
observes,  that  the  creed  (symbolum)  is  so  called,  because 
it  is  a  short  collection  of  all  the  doctrines  contained  in 
Holy  Scripture.  He  urges  Nestorius  extremely  with  the 
authority  of  the  creed  of  his  Church,  which  contained  the 
faith  which  he  had  embraced  when  he  was  baptized,  and 
which  he  had  always  professed.  "  If  you  were,"  saith  he 
to  him,  "  an  Arian,  or  a  Sabellian,  and  I  could  not  use 
your  own  creed  against  you,  I  would  then  convince  you 
by  the  authority  of  the  testimonies  of  Holy  Scripture,  by 
the  words  of  the  law,  and  by  the  truth  of  the  creed 
acknowledged  by  all  the  world.  I  would  tell  you,  that 
though  you  had  neither  sense  nor  judgment,  you  ought 
to  yield  to  the  consent  of  all  mankind,  and  that  it  is  un- 
reasonable to  prefer  the  opinions  of  some  particular  men 
before  the  faith  of  the  Church ;  that  faith,  say  I,  which 
having  been  taught  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  preached  by  the 
Apostles,  ought  to  be  received  as  the  word  and  law  of 
God.  If  I  should  deal  thus  with  you,  what  would  you 
say  ?  what  would  you  answer  ?  You  could  certainly  have 
no  other  evasion,  but  to  say,  I  was  not  brought  up  in  this 
faith,  I  was  not  so  instructed,  my  parents,  my  masters 
taught  me  otherwise,  I  have  heard  another  thing  in  my 
Church,  I  have  learned  another  creed,  into  which  I  was 
baptized :  I  live  in  that  faith  of  which  I  have  made  pro- 
fession from  my  baptism.  You  would  think  that  you  had 
brought  a  very  strong  argument  against  the  truth  upon 
this  occasion.  x\nd  I  must  freely  own,  it  is  the  best  de- 
fence that  can  be  used  in  a  bad  cause.  It  discovers  at 
least  the  original  of  the  error  :  and  this  disposition  were 
excusable  if  it  were  not  accompanied  with  obstinacy.  If 
you  were  of  the  same  opinions  which  you  had  imbibed  in 
your  infancy,  we  ought  to  make  use  of  arguments  and 


CASSIAN.  5Q1 

persuasions  to  bring  you  from  your  error,  rather  than 
severity  to  punish  what  is  passed  ;  but,  being  born,  as  you 
were,  in  an  orthodox  city,  instructed  in  the  Catholic  faith, 
and  baptized  with  a  true  baptism,  we  must  not  deal  with 
you  as  an  Arian  or  a  Sabellian.  I  have  no  more  to  say 
for  this.  Follow  the  instructions  you  have  received  of 
your  parents,  depart  not  from  the  truth  of  the  creed  which 
you  have  learned,  remain  firm  in  the  faith  which  you  have 
professed  in  your  baptism. 

"It  is  the  faith  of  this  creed  which  hath  gained  you 
admittance  to  baptism  :  it  is  by  that  that  you  have  been 
regenerated ;  it  is  by  this  faith  that  you  have  received  the 
Eucharist  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  Lastly,  I  speak  it  with 
a  sorrow,  it  is  that  which  hath  raised  you  to  the  holy 
ministry,  to  be  a  deacon  and  priest,  and  made  you  capable 
of  the  episcopal  dignity.  What  have  you  done?  Into 
what  a  sad  condition  have  you  "cast  yourself?  By  losing 
the  faith  of  the  creed,  you  have  lost  all ;  the  Sacraments 
of  your  priesthood  and  episcopacy  are  grounded  upon  the 
truth  of  the  creed.  One  of  those  two  things  yoa  must 
do ;  either  you  must  confess,  that  He  is  God  that  is  born 
of  a  Virgin,  and  so  detest  your  error ;  or  if  you  will  not 
make  such  a  confession,  you  must  renounce  your  priest- 
hood ;  ttiere  is  no  middle  way ;  if  you  have  been  orthodox, 
you  are  now  an  apostate,  and  if  you  are  at  present  ortho- 
dox, how  can  you  be  a  deacon,  priest,  or  bishop  ?  Why 
were  you  so  long  in  an  error ;  why  did  you  stay  so  long 
without  contradicting  others  ?"  Lastly,  he  exhorts  Nesto- 
rius  to  reflect  upon  himself,  to  acknowledge  his  error,  to 
make  profession  of  the  faith  into  which  he  was  baptized, 
and  have  recourse  to  the  Sacraments,  that  they  may 
regenerate  him  by  repentance  (they  are  Cassian's  very 
words)  as  they  have  heretofore  begat  him  by  baptism." 
With  this  discourse  he  mingles  arguments  against  the 
error  of  Nestorius,  whom  he  undertakes  to  confute  in  the 
last  book,  by  answering  the  objections  which  he  proposed, 
and  by  alleging  the  testimonies  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
2Y-2 


523  CAUSSIN. 

Church  against  him.  He  concludes  with  a  lamentation 
of  the  miserable  condition  of  Constantinople,  exhorting 
the  faithful  of  that  Church  to  continue  stedfast  in  the 
orthodox  faith,  which  had  been  so  learnedly  and  eloquently- 
explained  to  them  by  St.  Chrysostom.  He  seems  to  be 
much  troubled  for  the  misery  of  that  Church.  "Although 
I  am  very  little  known,"  saith  he,  "  am  of  no  worth,  and 
dare  not  rank  myself  with  the  great  Bishop  of  Con- 
stantinople, nor  assume  the  title  of  a  master,  I  have  the 
zeal  and  affection  of  a  scholar,  having  been  ordained  and 
presented  to  God  by  St.  John  of  blessed  memory.  And 
although  I  am  far  di^ant  from  the  body  of  that  Church, 
yet  I  am  united  in  heart  and  spirit,  which  makes  me  to 
sympathize  in  her  grief  and  sufferings,  and  pour  out  my- 
self in  complaints  and  lamentations."  This  and  the  fore- 
going place  teach  us,  that  this  treatise  of  Cassian's  was 
composed  before  the  deposition  of  Nestorius,  or  at  least 
before  it  was  known  in  the  West.  They  also  give  us 
ground  to  conjecture,  that  the  reason  why  St.  Leo  imposed 
this  task  upon  him,  to  write  against  Nestorius,  was  this, 
that  being  known  at  Constantinople  to  be  St.  Chrysostom's 
scholar,  his  work  might  have  more  weight,  and  be  more 
effectual  than  if  any  other  had  written  on  the  same 
subject. 

Cassian  died  soon  after  the  year  433.  His  works  were 
published  with  comments  by  Alard  Gazeus  or  Gazet,  a 
Benedictine  monk  of  St.  Vaast's,  at  Arras,  first  at  Douay, 
in  1616,  and  afterwards  with  more  ample  notes  at  Arras, 
in  1618.  There  have  been  several  reprints  at  Lyons, 
Paris,  and  Frankfort. — Dupin.  Fleury.  Rivet.  Cupar  the 
Bollandist. 

CAUSSIN,    NICHOLAS. 

Nicholas  Caussin  was  born  at  Troyes,  in  Champagne, 
in  1563,  and  became  a  Jesuit.  Through  the  intervention 
of  Richelieu  he  was  made  confessor  to  Louis  XIIL,  but  he 


CAVE.  62S 

lost  the  minister's  favour,  as  it  is  said,  because  he  would 
not  reveal  some  things  made  known  to  him  bj  the  King 
in  confession.  For  some  cause  or  other  he  was  deprived 
of  his  office  nine  months  after  he  had  obtained  it,  and  was 
banished,  first  to  Raunes,  and  then  to  Quimper.  After 
Richelieu's  death  he  returned  to  Paris,  and  died  in  the 
Jesuits'  convent  in  1561.  He  gave  proof  of  his  desire  to 
reform  the  court,  by  the  publication  of  La  Cour  Sainte  ; 
this  work  was  translated  for  the  use  of  Henrietta  Maria, 
under  the  title  of  The  Holy  Court  in  Five  Forms.  The 
idea  of  the  book  is  good,  but  those  who  consult  it  will 
find  that  in  the  execution  it  is  very  defective.  The 
author,  though  laborious,  had  evidently  very  little  genius. 
He  published  several  other  books,  both  in  Latin  and 
French;  particularly,  1.  De  Eloquentia  sacra  et  humana, 
1019,  4to,  which  has  been  often  reprinted.  It  exhibits 
numerous  examples  of  different  styles  in  v.riting.  2.  Elec- 
torum  Symbolorum  et  Parabolarum  historicarum  Syntag- 
mata, 1618,  4to.  3.  Disputes  sur  les  quatre  Livres  des 
Rois,  touchant  TEducation  des  Princes,  fol.  4.  Tragediae 
Sacrse,  1620.  5.  Apologie  pour  les  Rehgieux  de  la  Com- 
pagnie  de  Jesus,  1644,  8vo.  6.  La  Vie  neutre  des  Filles 
devotes,  &c.  1644.  7.  Symbolica  ^gyptiorum  Sapientia, 
1647,  4to;  and  some  other  works  of  devotion  and  con- 
troversy, of  which  his  Christian  Diary  was  printed  in 
English,  1648,  12mo. — Biog:   Universelle. 


CAVE,  WILLIAM. 

Of  William  Cave,  a  learned  and  useful  divine  ;  we 
have  little  more  to  give  than  the  dates  of  his  preferments, 
and  the  names  of  his  books.  He  was  born  at  Pickwell, 
in  Leicestershire,  in  1637.  He  went  to  St.  John's  Col- 
lege, Cambridge,  in  1653,  and  graduated  in  1656.  He 
took  his  M.  A.  degree  in  1660.  In  1662  he  became 
vicar  of  Islington,  and  sometime  after  chaplain  in 
(•rdinarv  to    Charles    II.     In    1672    he   took   his    D.  D. 


524  CAVE. 

degree,  and  in  1679  was  collated,  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  to  the  rectory  of  All  Hallows  the  Great,  in 
Thames  street,  London.  In  1681  he  was  installed  canon 
of  Windsor.  He  resigned  All  Hallows  in  1689,  and 
Islington  in  1691,  accepting  in  1690  the  quieter  post  of 
vicar  of  Isle  worth.  In  1686  he  received  into  his  family 
at  Islington,  as  his  amanuensis,  the  celebrated  Henry 
Wharton,  who  does  not  represent  the  doctor  in  amiable 
colours ;  but  Wharton  evidently  wrote  under  feelings  of 
irritation  and  offended  vanity,  because  Cave  undervalued, 
as  Wharton  exaggerated,  the  assistance  rendered  by  the 
latter  in  carrying  on  the  Historia  Literaria. 

He  died  at  Windsor  on  the  4th  of  August,  1713. 

He  published,  1.  Primitive  Christianity ;  or  the  Reli- 
gion of  the  ancient  Christians  in  the  first  ages  of  the 
Gospel,  London,  1672,  of  which  there  have  been  many 
reprints.  2.  Tabulae  Ecclesiasticse,  tables  of  ecclesiastical 
writers,  London,  1674,  reprinted  at  Hamburg  in  1676, 
without  his  knowledge.  3.  Antiquitates  Apostolicae ;  or 
the  History  of  the  Lives,  Acts,  and  Martyrdoms  of  the 
holy  Apostles  of  our  Saviour,  and  the  two  Evangelists, 
St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke.  To  which  is  added,  an  Intro- 
ductory Discourse  concerning  the  three  great  Dispensa- 
tions of  the  Church,  Patriarchal,  Mosaical,  and  Evan- 
gelical. Being  a  continuation  of  Antiquitates  Christianas, 
or  the  Life  and  Death  of  the  Holy  Jesus,  written  by  Jeremy 
Taylor.  4.  Apostolici,  or  the  History  of  the  Lives,  Acts, 
Deaths,  and  Martyrdoms  of  those  who  were  contemporaries 
with  or  immediately  succeeded  the  Apostles ;  as  also  of 
the  most  eminent  of  the  primitive  fathers  for  the  first 
three  hundred  years.  To  which  is  added,  a  Chronology 
of  the  three  first  ages  of  the  Church,  Lond.  1677,  folio. 
5.  A  Dissertation  concerning  the  Government  of  the 
Ancient  Church,  by  Bishops,  Metropolitans,  and  Patri- 
archs. More  particularly  concerning  the  ancient  power 
and  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome,  and  the  encroach- 
ments of  that  upon  other  sees,  especially  the  see  of 
Constantinople,  Lond.  1683,  8vo.     b.  Ecclesiastici,  or  the 


CAVE.  525 

History  of  the  Lives,  Acts,  Death,  and  Writings  of  the 
most  eminent  Fathers  of  the  Church  that  flourished  in 
the  fourth  century.  7.  Chartophylax  Ecclesiasticus, 
Lond.  1685,  8vo.  This  is  an  improvement  of  the  Tabulae 
Ecclesiasticse  above  mentioned,  and  a  kind  of  abridgment 
of  the  Historia  Literaiia,  and  contains  a  short  account  of 
most  of  the  ecclesiastical  writers,  from  the  birth  of  Christ 
to  1517.  Scriptorum  Ecclesiasticorum  Historia  Literaiia; 
i.  e.  A  Literary  Histoij  of  Ecclesiastical  Writers,  in  two 
parts,  folio;  the  first  printed  at  London,  1688,  and  the 
second  in  1698.  9.  A  Serious  Exhortation,  with  some  im- 
portant advices  relating  to  the  late  cases  about  conformity, 
recommended  to  the  present  dissenters  from  the  Church  of 
England.  It  is  the  twenty-second  in  the  London  Cases. 
His  Historia  Literaiia  is  perhaps  the  work  on  which  his 
fame  principally  rests.  It  was  repjinted  at  Geneva,  in  1705, 
and  1720,  but  the  best  edition  is  that  printed  at  the 
Clarendon  press,  by  subscription,  in  two  vols  fol.  1740 — 
1743,  which  contains  the  author's  last  corrections  and 
improvements,  with  additions  by  other  hands.  Dowling 
says  of  Cave,  "  The  Works  of  William  Cave  rank  un- 
doubtedly among  those  which  have  affected  the  progress 
of  Church-history.  His  smaller  works  greatly  tended  to 
extend  an  acquaintance  with  Christian  Antiquity;  his 
"  Lives  of  the  Apostles  and  Primitive  Fathers,"  which 
may  be  regarded  as  an  Ecclesiastical  history  of  the  first 
four  centuries,  is  to  this  very  day  the  most  learned  work 
of  the  kind  which  has  been  written  in  our  own  language  ; 
and  his  "  Historia  Literaiia"  is  still  the  best  and  most 
convenient  complete  work  on  the  literary  history  of  the 
Church.  For  extent  and  variety  of  learning  he  stands 
high  among  the  scholars  of  his  time,  and  he  had  taste 
and  feeling  to  appreciate  ancient  piety  :  but  he  can  scarce- 
ly claim  any  other  praise.  His  respect  for  antiquity  some- 
times degenerates  into  mere  credulity ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  is  not  altogether  free  from  protestant 
prejudices ;  and  we  look  into  his  works  in  vain  for  com- 
prehensive views  or  independent  opinions.     Yet  his  well 


526  CAWTON. 

directed  industry  deserves  everlasting  gratitude.  Few 
writers  on  these  subjects  have  composed  works  which  have 
been  more  permanently  useful ;  and  it  was  a  happy  circum- 
stance that  so  popular  a  writer  should  have  distinguished 
himself  by  his  firm  adherence  to  the  principles  of  the 
catholic  Church. 


CAWTON,  THOMAS. 

Thomas  Cawton  was  born  at  Wivenhoe,  in  Essex,  in 
1637.  He  was  educated  at  Rotterdam,  and  afterwards  at 
Utrecht,  where  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  Oriental 
tongues.  On  his  return  to  England  he  entered  Merton 
College,  Oxford,  and  was  episcopally  ordained ;  but  in 
1662  he  left  the  university  on  account  of  non-conformity, 
after  which  he  officiated  to  a  dissenting  congregation  in 
Westminster,  where  he  died  in  1677.  He  wrote — 1.  The 
Life  of  his  Father,  8vo.  2.  Dissertatio  de  Usu  LingusB 
Hebraicae  in  Philosophia  Theoretica.  3.  Disputatio  de 
Versione  Syriaca  Vet.  et  Novi  Testamenti,  4to.  4.  Ba- 
laam's Wish,  8vo. — Universal  Biography. 


CECIL,  RECHABD. 

Richard  Cecil  was  born  in  London,  Novembers,  1748. 
His  father  was  a  respectable  tradesman  in  the  employment 
of  the  East  India  Company.  His  mother,  who  was  a  dis- 
senter, appears  to  have  been  a  person  of  marked  religious 
character.  The  subject  of  the  memoir  was  intended  by 
his  father  for  business,  and  accordingly  placed  in  a 
mercantile  house  in  the  city.  He  was,  however,  wholly 
averse  to  trade,  but  devoted  to  literature  and  the  arts. 
His  predominant  passion  was  painting,  which  he  pursued 
insatiably,  and  so  intent  was  he  on  the  point,  that  he  set 
out,  unknown  to  his  parents,  on  a  ramble  to  France,  from 


CECIL.  627 

a  desire  to  see  the  works  of  the  great  masters,  and  would 
have  proceeded  to  Rome  had  not  the  means  of  traveUing 
failed.  He  returned  home  and  continued  to  live  with  his 
father;  who,  perceiving  his  ardour  for  painting  did  not 
abate,  at  length  proposed  his  going  to  Rome,  (where  he 
had  an  acquaintance)  as  an  artist.  To  this  proposal 
Cecil  agreed  :  but  a  circumstance  took  place  which  pre- 
vented it,  and  he  remained  still  under  the  roof  of  his 
father, — sunk  in  the  depths  of  sin,  and  hardening  his 
conscience  by  reading  books  of  infidelity,  till  he  be- 
came a  professed  infidel  himself.  He  endeavoured  to 
instil  the  same  principles  into  others :  with  some  he 
succeeded,  whom  afterwards  he  endeavoured  vainly  to 
reclaim. 

From  this  fearful  condition  he  was,  through  the  mercy 
of  God,  gradually  aroused,  and  piincipally  by  means  of 
the  example  of  his  mother.  One  night  he  begaii  to  pray, 
but  he  was  soon  damped  in  his  attempt,  by  recollecting 
that  much  of  his  mother  s  comfort  in  religion,  seemed  t© 
spring  from  her  faith  in  Christ.  "Now,"  thought  he, 
"  this  Christ  have  I  ridiculed  :  He  stands  much  in  my 
way,  and  can  form  no  part  of  my  prayers."  In  utter  con- 
fusion of  mind,  therefore,  he  gave  up,  and  laid  himself 
down  on  his  bed  again.  Next  day,  however,  he  continued 
to  pray  to  the  "Supreme  Being:"  he  began  to  consult 
books,  and  to  hear  sermons,  his  diflBculties  were  gradually 
removed,  and  his  objections  answered,  and  his  course  of 
life  began  to  amend  :  light  broke  into  his  mind,  and  he 
at  last  became  fully  aware  that  Jesus  Christ,  so  far  from 
"  standing  in  the  way,"  is  the  only  Way,  the  Truth,  and 
the  Life. 

It  was  after  the  change  of  character,  that  Cecil's  father 
proposed  to  him,  that  he  should  go  to  college,  and  study 
for  the  ministry.  To  this,  after  some  consideration,  he 
agreed,  and  accordingly  entered  Queen's  College,  Oxford. 
He  was  then  twenty-five.  He  appears  to  have  been  very 
assiduous  at  the  university,  and  indeed  to  have  partially 


628  CECIL. 

injured  his  health  by  his  close  application.  He  was 
ordained  deacon  in  1776,  and  priest  the  year  following. 
His  first  curacy  comprised  the  duty  of  three  churches  in 
Leicestershire,  Thornton,  Bagworth,  and  Markfield,  which 
he  served  until  the  son  of  the  deceased  vicar  was  of  age. 
Here,  as  in  all  his  subsequent  fields  of  labour,  he  appears 
to  have  been  eminently  successful.  Two  small  livings 
which  were  given  him,  removed  him  to  Lewes,  in  Sussex. 
Both  the  livings  together  were  worth  only  £80  per  annum, 
and  in  serving  them,  he  contracted  a  rheumatic  disorder 
in  the  head,  which  disabled  him  for  duty  for  several 
months,  and  at  length  obliged  him  to  leave  Lewes.  He 
removed  to  London,  and  lived  at  Islington  for  the  recovery 
of  his  health. 

This  led  to  his  settling  in  London.  He  ofiiciated  at 
different  churches  for  many  years,  preaching  four  times 
every  Sunday,  and  once  or  twice  in  the  week  besides. 
One  lecture  was  at  Lothbury  at  six  o'clock  on  the  Sunday 
morning,  and  another  at  Christ  Church,  Spitalfields,  on 
Sunday  evening,  where  he  had  a  very  large  congregation. 
His  most  important  sphere  of  duty,  however,  was  St.  John's 
Chapel,  Bedford  row,  which,  through  the  persuasion  and 
pecuniary  assistance  of  a  lady  of  fortune,  he  was  induced 
to  become  the  lessee  of.  Though  many  proprietary 
churches  have  been,  what  are  called,  good  speculations, 
this  of  Cecil's  does  not  appear  to  have  been  peculiarly 
profitable,  at  least  not  in  his  time.  At  St.  John's  he 
continued  to  ofl&ciate  for  a  period  of  eighteen  years,  at  the 
end  of  which  he  was  seized  with  a  violent  and  dangerous 
disorder,  from  which,  however,  he  so  far  recovered  after  a 
few  months,  as  to  be  able  to  preach  one  sermon  on  the 
Sunday. 

But  this  was  only  for  a  short  time ;  he  found  the  exer- 
tions too  much  for  his  broken  health  and  spirit,  and  was 
convinced  that  God  called  him  to  retirement  and  repose. 
Such  a  dispensation  to  a  mind  like  his,  required  no 
common  measure  of  faith  and  patience.     In  February, 


CECIL.  529 

1808,  an  attack  of  paralysis  totally  disabled  him  for 
further  exertions  in  public-  He  continued  for  about 
two  years  longer,  suffering  greatly  in  mind  and  body, 
and  was  at  last  released  by  apoplexy,  August  15th, 
I&IO. 

Cecil  was  a  man  of  uncommon  talents,  and  after  his 
conversion,  of  most  devoted  piety  ;  his  labours  were  exces- 
sive, especially  in  preaching  ;  for  his  sermons,  even  when 
he  delivered  four  in  the  day,  were  prepared  with  the 
gi'eatest  care  and  study.  He  had  a  remarkable  decision 
of  character,  great  firmness,  a  bold  and  striking  imagin- 
ation, unusual  disinterestedness,  and  religious  faith  of  the 
most  devoted  kind.  His  successor  at  St.  John's  Chapel, 
remarks  of  the  last  quality,  that  "  it  was  in  him  like 
another  sense.  The  things  of  time  were  as  nothing. 
Ever}^  thing  that  came  before  him  was  referred  to  a  spiri- 
tual standard.  He  went  all  lengths,  and  risked  all  conse- 
quences, on  the  word  and  promise  of  God." 

Cecil's  views  of  his  office  may  be  gathered  from  the  fol- 
lowing remarks : — "A  minister  is  a  Le\'ite.  In  general  he 
has,  and  he  is  to  have,  no  inheritance  among  his  brethren. 
Other  men  are  not  Levites.  They  must  recur  to  means 
from  which  a  minister  has  no  right  to  expect  anything. 
Their  affairs  are  all  the  little  transactions  of  this  world. 
But  a  minister  is  called  and  set  apart  for  a  high  and 
sublime  business.  His  transactions  are  to  be  between 
the  living  and  the  dead — between  heaven  and  earth  ;  and 
he  must  stand  as  with  wings  on  his  shoulders."  Again; 
"  I  never  choose  to  forget  that  1  am  a  Priest,  because  I 
would  not  deprive  myself  of  the  right  to  dictate  in  my 
ministerial  capacity." 

As  a  preacher,  Cecil  had  the  power  of  exciting  and  pre- 
serving attention  above  most  men  ;  and  he  had,  in  an  un- 
usual degi-ee,  the  talent  of  adapting  his  ministiy  to  his 
congregation.  While  he  was,  for  instance,  preaching  on 
the  same  day  at  Lothbury,  at  St.  John's,  moraing  and 
afternoon,  and  at  Spitalfields  in  the  evening — he  found 
yoL  in.  2  z 


550  CECIL. 

four  congregations  at  these  places,  in  many  respects,  quite 
distinct  from  one  another ;  and  yet  he  adapted  his  preach- 
ing, with  admirable  skill,  to  meet  their  habits  of  thinking. 
It  may  be  added  that  his  power  of  illustration  was  great 
and  versatile,  and  his  style  easy  and  natural.  The  fol- 
lowing is  an  instance  of  the  former,  as  displayed  in  fami- 
liar conversation.  A  friend  told  him  he  should  esteem  it 
a  favour,  if  he  would  tell  him  of  any  thing  which  he  might 
in  future  see  in  his  conduct  which  he  thought  improper. 
"  Weil,  Sir,"  he  said,  "  many  a  man  has  told  the  watch- 
man to  call  him  early  in  the  morning,  and  has  then 
appeared  very  anxious  for  his  coming  early ;  but  the 
watchman  has  come  before  he  has  been  ready  for  him !  I 
have  seen  many  people  very  desirous  of  being  told  their 
faults  ;  but  I  have  seen  very  few  who  were  pleased  when 
they  received  the  information."  Another  instance  of  his 
strikingly  effective  manner  of  conveying  truth  to  the  mind 
may  be  added,  as  narrated  himself ;  "  I  imprinted  on  my 
daughter  the  idea  of  faith,  at  a  very  early  age.  8he  was 
playing  one  day  with  a  few  beads,  which  seemed  to  de- 
light her  wonderfully.  Her  whole  soul  was  absorbed  in 
her  beads.  I  said  —  'My  dear,  you  have  some  pretty 
beads  there.' — 'Yes,  papa!' — 'And  you  seem  to  be  vastly 
pleased  with  them.' — 'Yes,  papa!' — 'Well  now,  throw 
them  behind  the  fire.'  The  tears  started  into  her  eyes. 
She  looked  earnestly  at  me,  as  though  she  ought  to  have 
a  reason  for  such  a  cruel  sacrifice.  '  Well,  my  dear,  do  as 
you  please  ;  but  you  know  I  never  told  you  to  do  any- 
thing, which  I  did  not  think  would  be  good  for  you.'  She 
looked  at  me  a  few  moments  longer,  and  then — sum- 
moning all  her  fortitude  —  her  breast  heaving  with  the 
effort  —  she  dashed  them  into  the  fire.  'Well,'  said  I, 
'  there  let  them  lie  ;  you  shall  hear  more  about  them  ano- 
ther time;  but  say  no  more  about  them  now.'  Some  days 
after,  I  bought  her  a  box  full  of  large  beads,  and  toys  of 
the  same  kind.  When  I  returned  home,  I  opened  the 
treasure  and  set  it  before  her ;  she  burst  into  tears  with 


CECIL.  531 

ecstacy.  *  These,  my  child,'  said],  '  are  yours  ;  because 
you  believed  me,  when  I  told  you  it  would  be  better  for 
you  to  throw  those  two  or  three  paltry  beads  behind  the 
fire.  Now  that  has  brought  you  this  treasure.  But  now, 
my  dear,  remember,  as  long  as  you  live,  what  FaWi  is. 
I  did  all  this  to  teach  you  the  meaning  of  faith.  You 
threw  your  beads  away  when  I  bid  you,  because  you 
had  faith  in  me  that  I  never  advised  you  but  for  your 
good.  Put  the  same  confidence  in  God.  Believe  every 
thing  He  says  in  His  word  whether  you  understand 
it  or  not;  have  faith  in  Him  that  He  means  your 
good.'" 

Cecil  was  aware  more  than  most  men  of  the  difiBculty 
of  bringing  down  the  truth  to  the  comprehension  of  the 
mass  of  hearers.  Speaking  of  a  young  friend  about  to 
take  orders,  he  says:  "I  ad\'ised  him,  since  he  was  so 
near  his  entrance  to  the  mini^ry,  to  lay  aside  all  other 
studies  for  the  present,  but  the  one  I  should  now 
recommend  to  him.  I  would  have  him  select  some  very 
poor  and  uninformed  persons,  and  pay  them  a  visit.  His 
object  should  be  to  explain  to  them  and  demonstrate  to 
them  the  truth  of  the  solar  system.  He  should  first  of 
all  set  himself  to  make  that  system  perfectly  intelligible 
to  them,  and  then  he  should  demonstrate  it  to  their  full 
conviction,  against  all  that  the  followers  of  Tycho  Brahe 
or  any  one  else  could  say  against  it.  He  would  tell  me 
it  was  impossible  :  they  would  not  understand  a  single 
term.  Impossible  to  make  them  astronomers  I  And 
shall  it  be  thought  an  easy  matter  to  make  them  under- 
stand redemption?"'  "I  set  out,"  he  says,  "  with  levity 
in  the  pulpit.  It  was  above  two  years  before  I  could  get 
the  victory  over  it,  though  I  strove  under  sharp  piercings 
of  conscience.  My  plan  was  wrong.  I  had  bad  coun- 
sellors. I  thought  preaching  was  only  entering  the  pulpit 
and  letting  off  a  sermon.  I  really  imagined  this  was 
trusting  to  God,  and  doing  the  thing  cleverly.  I  talked 
with  a  wise  and  pious  man  on  the  subject.  '  There 
is  nothing/   said  he,    'like  appealing  to  facts.'     We  sat 


532  CEOLFRID. 

down,  and  named  names.  We  found  men  in  my  habit 
disreputable.  This  first  set  my  mind  right.  I  saw 
such  a  man  might  sometimes  succeed;  but  I  saw,  at 
the  same  time,  that  whoever  would  succeed  in  his  gene- 
ral interpretations  of  Scripture,  and  would  have  his 
ministry  that  of  a  workman  which  needeth  not  to  he  asham- 
ed—  must  be  a  laborious  man.  What  can  be  produced 
by  men  w^ho  refuse  this  labour? — a  few  raw  notions, 
harmless  perhaps  in  themselves,  but  false  as  stated  by 
them.  What  then  should  a  young  minister  do? — His 
ofl&ce  says,  '  Go  to  your  books.  Go  to  retirement.  Go 
to  prayer.'  'No !'  says  the  enthusiast,  '  Go  to  preach  !  Go 
and  be  a  witness!'  A  witness  I — of  what? — He  does'nt 
know  !" 

The  result  of  a  contrary  course  to  that  which  Cecil  thus 
condemns,  was,  that  in  his  own  case,  he  became  one  of 
the  first  preachers  of  his  time. 

He  was  sincerely  attached  to  the  Church  of  England, 
both  by  principle  and  feeling — to  her  order  and  de- 
corum. He  entered  into  the  spirit  of  those  obligations, 
which  lay  on  him  as  a  clergjman  ;  and  looking  at 
general  consequences,  would  never  break  through  the 
order  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  to  obtain  any  par- 
tial, local,  or  temporary  ends. — Cecils  Works,  with  Meinoir 
prefixed. 


CEOLFRID,    OR    CEOI, FIRTH. 

Ceolfrid  was  born  about  the  year  642,  in  the  kingdom 
of  Northumberland.  In  685  he  accompanied  Benedict 
Biscop  to  Rome.  He  had  been  a  zealous  assistant  of 
Benedict  Biscop,  whim  that  pious  servant  of  Christ  built 
the  monastery  of  St.  Peter,  at  Wearmouth  ;  and  when 
Benedict  founded  the  monastery  of  St.  Paul,  at  Jarrow, 
which  was  always  to  be  in  union  with  St.  Peter's,  he  made 
Ceolfrid  the  abbot.  On  the  death  of  Benedict,  Ceolfrid 
became  abbot  of  both  the  monasteries,  of  St.  Peter's  at 


CEOLFRID.  533 

Wearmouth,  and  of  St.  Paul's  at  Jarrow,  by  designation 
of  Benedict  himself.     Venerable  Bede,  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  this  account,  describes  him  as  a  man  of  great 
perseverance,  of  acute  intellect,  bold  in  action,  experienced 
in  judgment,  and  zealous  in  religion.     He  first  of  all,  says 
Bede,     "  with   the    advice    and    assistance   of    Benedict, 
founded,  completed,  and  ruled  the  monastery  of  St.  Pauls 
seven  years  ;  and,  afterwards,  ably  governed  during  twenty- 
eight  years  both   these  monasteries;    or,   to  speak  more 
correctly,   the  single  monastery  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
in  its  two  separate  localities  ;  and,  whatever  works  of  merit 
his  predecessor  had  begun,   he,  with  no  less  zeal,   took 
pains  to  finish.     For,   among  other  arrangements,  which 
he  found  it  necessary  to   make,   during  his  long  govern- 
ment of  the  monastery,  he  built  several  oratories;  increased 
the  number  of  vessels  of  the  church  and  altar,  and  the 
vestments  of  every  kind  ;  and  the  library  of  both  monas- 
teries, which  Abbot  Benedict  had  so  actively  begun,  under 
his  equally  zealous  care  became  doubled   in  extent.     For 
he  added  three  pandects  of  a  new  translation  to  that  of  the 
old  translation  which  he  had  brought  from  Piome ;  one  of 
them,  returning  to  Piome  in  his  old  age,  he  took  with  him 
as  a  gift :   the  other  two  he  left  to  the  two  monasteries. 
Moreover,  for  a  beautiful  volume  of  the  geographers,  which 
Benedict  had   bought  at  Plome,  he   received  from  King 
Aldfrid,  who  was  well  skilled  in  Holy  Scripture,   in  ex- 
change, a  grant  of  land  of  eight  hides  near  the  river  Fresca 
to  the  monasteiy  of  St.  Paul's.     Benedict  had  arranged 
this  purchase  with  the  same  King  Aldfrid,  before  his  death, 
but  died  before  he  could  complete  it.    Instead  of  this  land, 
Ceolfrid,  in  the  reign  of  Osred,   paid  an  additional  price, 
and  received  a  territory  of  twenty  hides,  in  the  village 
called   by  the  natives  of  Sambuce,    and    situated    much 
nearer  to  the  monastery.     In  the  time  of  Pope  Sergius, 
some  monks  were  sent  to  Piome,  who  procured  from  him 
a  privilege  for  the  protection  of  their  monastery,  similar 
to  that  which  Pope  Agatho  had  given  to  Benedict.     This 
2z  -^ 


534  CEOLFnm. 

was  brought  back  to  Britain,  and  being  exhibited  before  a 
synod,  was  confirmed  by  the  signatures  of  the  bishops 
who  were  present,  and  their  munificent  King  Aldfrid,  just 
as  the  former  privilege  was  confirmed  publicly  by  the 
King  and  Bishops  of  the  time.  Zealous  for  the  welfare  of 
St.  Peter's  monastery,  at  that  time  under  the  government 
of  the  reverend  and  religious  servant  of  Christ,  Witmser, 
whose  acquaintance  with  every  kind  of  learning,  both 
sacred  and  profane,  was  equally  extensive,  he  made  a  gift 
to  it  for  ever  of  a  portion  of  land  of  ten  hides,  which  he 
had  received  from  King  Aldfrid,  in  the  village  called 
DaltLin. 

"  But  Ceolfrid,  having  now  practised  a  long  course  of 
regular  discipline,  which  the  prudent  father  had  laid 
down  for  himself  and  his  brethren  on  the  authority  of  the 
elders ;  and  having  shown  the  most  incomparable  skill 
both  in  praying  and  chanting,  in  which  he  daily  exercised 
himself,  together  with  the  most  wonderful  energy  in 
punishing  the  wicked,  and  modesty  in  consoling  the  weak  ; 
having  also  observed  such  abstinence  in  meat  and  drink, 
and  such  humility  in  dress  as  are  uncommon  among 
rulers ;  saw  himself  now  old  and  full  of  days,  and  unfit 
any  longer,  from  his  extreme  age,  to  prescribe  to  his 
brethren  the  proper  forms  of  spiritual  exercise  by  his  life 
and  doctrine.  Having,  therefore,  deliberated  long  within 
himself,  he  judged  it  expedient,  having  first  impressed  on 
the  brethren  the  observance  of  the  rules  w^hich  St.  Bene- 
dict had  given  them,  and  thereby  to  choose  for  themselves 
a  more  efficient  abbot  out  of  their  own  number,  to  depart 
himself  to  Rome,  where  he  had  been  in  his  youth  with 
the  holy  Benedict ;  that  not  only  he  might  for  a  time  be 
free  from  all  worldly  cares  before  his  death,  and  so  have 
leisure  and  quiet  for  reflection,  but  that  they  also,  having 
chosen  a  younger  abbot,  might  naturally,  in  consequence 
thereof,  observe  more  accurately  the  rules  of  monastic 
discipline. 

"  At  first  all  opposed,  and  entreated  him  on  their  knees 


CEOLFRID.  535 

and  with  many  tears,  but  their  soUcitations  were  to  no 
purpose.  Such  was  his  eagerness  to  depart,  that  on  the 
third  day  after  he  had  disclosed  his  design  to  the  bre- 
thren, he  set  out  upon  his  journey.  For  he  feared,  what 
actually  came  to  pass,  that  he  might  die  before  he  reached 
Rome  :  and  he  was  also  anxious  that  neither  his  friends 
nor  the  nobility,  who  all  honoured  him,  should  delay  his 
departure,  or  give  him  money  which  he  would  not  have 
time  to  repay  ;  for  with  him  it  was  an  invariable  rule,  if 
any  one  made  him  a  present,  to  show  equal  grace  by 
returning  it,  either  at  once  or  within  a  suitable  space  of 
time.  Early  in  the  morning,  therefore,  of  Wednesday, 
the  4th  of  May,  the  holy  communion  was  celebrated  in 
the  church  of  the  mother  of  God,  the  blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  and  in  the  church  of  the  Apostle  Peter ;  and  those 
who  were  present  communicating  with  him,  he  prepared 
for  his  departure.  All  of  thenf  assembled  in  St.  Peter  s 
church ;  and  ^^  hen  he  had  lighted  the  frankincense,  and 
addressed  a  prayer  at  the  altar,  he  gave  his  blessing  to  all, 
standing  on  the  steps  and  holding  the  censer  in  his  hand. 
Amid  the  prayers  of  the  Litany,  the  cry  of  sorrow  resound- 
ed from  all  as  they  went  out  of  the  church  :  tliey  entered 
the  oratory  of  St.  Lawrence  the  Martyr,  v»hich  was  in  the 
dormitory  of  the  brethren  over  against  them.  Whilst 
giving  them  his  last  farewell,  he  admonished  them  to  pre- 
serve love  towards  one  another,  and  to  correct,  according 
to  the  gospel  rule,  those  who  did  amiss ;  he  forgave  all  of 
them  whatever  wrong  they  might  have  done  him  ;  and 
entreated  them  all  to  pray  for  him,  and  to  be  reconciled  to 
him,  if  he  had  ever  reprimanded  them  too  harshly.  They 
went  down  to  the  shore,  and  there,  amid  tears  and  lamen- 
tations, he  gave  them  the  kiss  of  peace,  as  they  knelt 
upon  their  knees ;  and  when  he  had  offered  up  a  prayer 
he  went  on  board  the  vessel  with  his  companions.  The 
deacons  of  the  church  went  on  board  with  him,  carrying 
lighted  tapers  and  a  golden  crucifix.  Having  crossed 
the  river,  he  kissed  the  cross,   mounted  his   horse   and 


536  CERDON. 

departed,  leaving  in  both  his  monasteries  about  six  hundred 
brethren." 

He  died  when  he  had  nearly  reached  the  city  of 
Langres  in  France,  on  the  25th  of  September,  716.  His 
remains  were  carried  to  Wearmouth,  but  were  subse- 
quently removed  to  Glastonbury,  His  letter  concerning 
Easter,  addressed  to  Naitan,  King  of  the  Picts,  and  pre- 
served by  Bede,  (Eccles.  Hist.  lib.  v.  cap.  21,)  is  distin- 
guished by  strength  of  reasoning  and  clearness  of  style. 
Bale  attributes  to  him  some  homilies,  epistles,  and  a 
tract,  De  sua  Peregrinatione. — Venerable  Bede.  Edit.  Giles. 
Wright's  Biog.  Brit.  Liter  aria. 


CEEDON. 

Of  the  personal  history  of  this  heresiarch  very  little  is 
known.  He  went  from  Syria  to  Rome  in  the  episcopate 
of  Hj'ginus,  about  the  year  140,  or  141.  He  taught,  as 
Irenseus  informs  us,  that  "  the  God  declared  in  the  law 
and  the  prophets  is  not  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  For  He  was  well  known,  the  latter  unknown ; 
moreover.  He  was  just,  this  good." 

Epiphanius's  summary  is  to  this  purpose  :  "  that  Cer- 
don  learned  his  doctrine  from  Heracleon ;  making  how- 
ever some  additions  of  his  own  :  that  he  came  from  Syria 
to  Rome,  and  there  spread  his  notions  in  the  time  of 
Hyginus.  He  held  two  contrary  principles  :  he  said  that 
Christ  was  not  born.  He  denied  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  and  rejected  the  Old  Testament."  In  his  larger 
article  Epiphanius  writes,  that,  "Cordon  succeeded  Herac- 
leon, and  came  from  Syria  to  Rome  in  the  time  of 
Hyginus,  the  ninth  Bishop  after  the  Apostles  :  that,  like 
many  other  heretics,  he  held  two  principles,  and  two 
gods ;  one  good  and  unknown,  the  Father  of  Jesus : 
the  other   the    Creator,  evil  and   known,    who  spake  in 


CERDON.  537 

the  law,  appeared  to  the  prophets,  and  was  often  seen. 
He  taught  moreover,  that  Jesus  was  not  bom  of  Marj, 
and  that  He  had  flesh  in  appearance  only.  He  denied 
the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  rejected  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. He  said  that  Christ  descended  from  the  un- 
known Father,  that  He  came  to  overthrow  the  empire 
and  dominion  of  the  Creator  of  the  world,  as  many 
other  heretics  do ;  and  having  been  a  short  time  at  Rome, 
he  transmitted  his  venom  to  Marcion,  who  succeeded 
him." 

Theodoret's  account  of  Cerdon  is  to  this  effect :  "he 
was  in  the  time  of  the  first  Antoninus.  He  taught  that 
there  is  one  God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
unknown  to  the  prophets;  another,  the  Maker  of  the 
universe,  the  giver  of  the  Mosiac  law :  and  this  last  is 
just,  the  other  good.  For  He  in  the  law  orders,  *  that 
an  eye  should  be  given  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth:'  but  the  good  God  in  the  gospels  commands,  that 
'  to  him  who  smiteth  thee  on  the  right  cheek,  turn  the 
other  also  :'  and  that  to  him  who  would  take  away  thy 
coat,  thou  shouldest  give  thy  cloak  also.  He  in  the  law 
directs  to  love  a  friend  and  hate  an  enemy :  but  the 
other  to  love  even  our  enemies.  'Not  observing,'  says 
Theodoret,  '  that  in  the  law  it  is  directed,  that  if  a  man 
meet  his  enemy's  ox  going  astray,  he  should  bring  him 
back :  and  not  forbear  to  help  his  beast  when  lying 
under  his  burden  :'  and  that  He  who  according  to  him 
is  alone  good,  threatens  '  hell-fire  to  him  who  calls  his 
brother  fool:'  and  showing  Himself  to  be  just,  said: 
'  with  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  meted  to  you 
again.'" 

Irenaeus  says,  that  when  Cerdon  was  at  Rome,  he 
several  times  renounced  his  errors ;  but  at  length  for 
returning  to  them  again,  or  for  teaching  them  in  a  clan- 
destine manner,  he  was  finally  excluded  from  the  church. 
— IrencBUS,  Epiphariius,  Theodoret,  and  Euselius,  quoted 
by  Lardiier. 


638  CERINTHUS. 

CEEINTHUS. 

This  noted  heresiarcb  of  the  first  century  was  born  at 
Antioch,  of  Jewish  parents.  He  studied  at  Alexandria, 
where  he  imbibed  those  doctrines  of  the  Gnostics,  Jews, 
and  Christians,  which  he  combined  together  in  the  med- 
ley which  constitutes  his  own  system.  He  then  went  to 
Jerusalem,  where  he  endeavoured  to  persuade  the  Jewish 
converts  to  unite  with  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel  the  rites 
of  the  Mosaic  law.  Being  driven  for  his  daring  hetero- 
doxy from  the  communion  of  the  faithful,  he  passed  into 
Asia,  and  there  formed  a  sect  which  professed  an  extrava- 
gant combination  of  doctrines,  composed  of  the  principles 
of  oriental  philosophy,  the  notions  of  the  Jews,  and  some 
of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  The  statements  with 
respect  to  him  made  by  the  fathers  are  collected  by 
Lardner.  The  following  account  of  his  heresy  is  abridged 
from  Tillemont. 

The  Church  was  disturbed  in  its  infancy  with  two 
opposite  heresies,  each  of  which  produced  several  sects. 
The  principal  tenets  of  the  one,  which  came  from  the 
Samaritans,  and  had  Simon  for  its  first  author,  were 
maintaining  two  gods  and  two  principles,  the  Creator  and 
another  above  Him;  and  saying  that  our  Saviour  was 
man,  and  wrought  all  the  mysteries  of  our  salvation,  only 
in  appearance.  These  are  they  to  whom  are  given  in 
general  the  names  of  Gnostics  and  Docetse,  under  which 
are  comprehended  almost  all  the  sects  of  the  two  first 
centuries,  as  fruitful  in  crimes  destructive  of  morality,  as 
in  errors  contrary  to  true  doctrine. 

The  other  heresy  opposite  to  this  came  from  the  Jews  who 
embraced  the  Christian  faith,  but  not  in  its  whole  extent. 
They  acknowledged  the  truth  of  one  principle  alone,  and 
of  one  only  God,  and  the  reality  of  the  human  nature  in 
Jesus  Christ :  but  they  thought  Him  to  be  man  in  such 
a  manner,  that  they  believed  Him  to  be  nothing  more, 
and  did  not  confess  His  divinity.     They  likewise  adhered 


CERINTHUS.  539 

to  the  ceremonies  of  the  law  with  a  superstition  that 
weakened  the  Hberty  and  majesty  of  the  Gospel. 

St.  Paul  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist  particularly  op- 
posed these  last,  as  St.  Peter  and  St.  Jude  withstood  the 
irregularities  and  excesses  of  the  others,  with  the  whole 
apostolical  authority  :  and  it  is  thought,  that  we  must 
always  refer  to  the  one  or  the  other  what  St.  Ignatius  says 
against  the  heretics,  with  a  strength  and  force  worthy  of  a 
martyr.  But  how  contrary  soever  the  tenets  belonging  to 
these  two  heresies  are  to  each  other  as  well  as  to  truth,  we 
are  going  to  see  notwithstanding,  that  the  devil  found  out 
a  method  to  join  them,  out  of  which  to  form  the  monster 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  Cerinthians. 

Cerinthus,  the  head  of  this  sect,  lived  and  preached  his 
heresy  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  and  even  in  the  infancy 
of  the  Church,  at  least  if  we  may  believe  Epiphaniua, 
whom  we  follow :  for  there  are  also  some  reasons  to  be 
given  why  he  should  not  be  placed  till  after  the  year  80, 
in  Domitian's  reign.  He  was  circumcised,  and  probably 
a  Jew  by  birth.  He  lived  a  long  time  in  Egj'pt,  where  he 
learned  the  sciences  and  philosophy,  and  alterwards  went 
into  Asia,  where  he  formed  a  sect  which  he  called  after 
his  own  name. 

But  before  he  went  thither,  and  fell  into  the  profound 
abyss  in  which  he  plunged  himself  at  last,  he  raised  great 
disturbances  in  Jerusalem,  according  to  Epiphanius,  who 
ascribes  to  him  and  his  faction  all  the  opposition  that 
we  find  the  converted  Jews  made  to  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  among  the  Gentiles.  For  he  says,  that  it  was  he 
who  excited  the  Jews  to  murmur  against  St.  Peter  for 
having  baptized  Cornelius  about  the  year  35.  That  the 
Christians  who  came  from  Judea  and  preached  at  Antioch 
the  necessity  of  circumcision  in  50,  were  some  followers  of 
Cerinthus,  who  had  sent  them  on  purpose  both  into  that 
city  and  to  many  other  places,  which  raised  a  great  dis- 
turbance in  the  Church ;  that  the  converted  Pharisees, 
who  maintained  at  Jerusalem  against  St.  Paul,  that  all 
the  faithful  ought  to  be  obliged  to  observe  circumcision 


540  CERINTHUS. 

and  the  rest  of  the  law,  were  Cerinthus  and  his  disciples  ; 
that  it  was  they  who  would  constrain  St.  Paul  to  have 
Titus  circumcised ;  lastly,  that  it  was  they  whom  the 
the  same  St.  Paul  calls  false  apostles,  deceitful  and  per- 
fidious workers,  who  transformed  themselves  into  apostles 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  that  is,  that  all  that  St.  Paul  says  in  his 
epistles  against  the  Jews  who  maintained  the  necessity  of 
the  law,  as  in  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians,  relates  par- 
ticularly to  the  Cerinthians.  Agreeably  to  which  it  is 
observed,  that  their  doctrine  spread  considerably  in  Asia 
Minor  and  Galatia. 

Cerinthus  did  not  perhaps  propagate  his  errors  in  those 
provinces,  till  he  saw  they  were  too  well  known  and  in  too 
much  disesteem  among  the  faithful  of  Jerusalem.  For  he 
was  declared  an  heretic,  and  expelled  the  Church  by  the 
Apostles.  St.  Jerome  says,  that  the  fathers  had  anathe- 
matized him  for  this^nly  reason,  that  he  joined  the  cere- 
monies of  the  law  with  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel :  that 
is,  because  he  thought  the  law  necessary,  as  appears  by 
St.  Augustine's  answer  to  St.  Jerome.  For  the  bare  use 
of  the  law  was  not  as  yet  condemned  in  the  time  of 
the  Apostles,  as  we  see  by  St.  Paul  who  sometimes 
observed  it.  And  Irenaeus  says  expressly,  that  St.  Peter, 
St.  James,  and  St.  John,  religiously  observed  the  Jewish 
ceremonies.  It  is  certain,  that  till  the  rebellion  of  the 
Jews  at  least,  a  great  number  of  persons  who  embraced 
the  faith  at  Jerusalem,  were  all  zealous  for  the  law,  and 
yet  neither  St.  James  nor  St.  Paul  had  anything  to  say 
against  them. 

It  was  in  Asia,  as  we  have  said,  that  Cerinthus 
particularly  sowed  his  errors,  having  at  length  fixed  upon 
that  country  for  his  place  of  residence.  There  the  name 
of  Cerinthians  took  its  birth;  and  Epiphanius  says, 
that  Cerinthus  began  there  to  preach,  not  the  necessity  of 
the  law,  but  the  other  yet  greater  errors,  in  which  he  was 
at  last  engaged,  as  we  are  going  to  give  an  account :  it  is 
observed,  that  it  was  in  order  to  oppose  his  false  doctrine, 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  the  Apostle  St.  John  into  Asia, 


CERINTHUS.  541 

who,  according  to  our  opinion,  was  not  settled  there 
before  the  year  66.  Irenoeus  cites  from  Poljcarp,  that  as 
St.  John  was  going  into  a  bath  at  Ephesus,  when  he  heard 
that  Cerinthus  was  there,  he  departed  in  haste,  for  fear, 
said  he,  that  the  bath  should  fall,  by  reason  of  this  enemy 
to  the  truth. 

We  must  be  convinced  of  what  St.  Augustine  tells  us, 
that  God  punishes  the  criminal  passions  of  the  wicked 
with  unaccountable,  but  just,  blindness  and  stupidity ; 
otherwise  it  cannot  be  conceived,  how  any  one  should  be- 
lieve the  contradictions  which  occurred  in  the  principles 
of  Cerinthus.  For  at  the  same  time  that  he  obliged  people 
to  obey  the  law,  as  being  good,  and  to  observe  circumcision 
and  the  other  ceremonies  of  the  like  nature ;  he  main- 
tained, not\sdthstanding,  that  he  who  had  ordained  the 
law,  was  evil. 

He  acknowledged  but  one  only  God  of  the  universe; 
and  yet  he  did  not  allow  Him  to  be  the  author  of  the  crea- 
tures, but  pretended  that  the  world  was  made  by  a  virtue 
and  power  far  inferior  to  the  invisible  beings,  who  had  no 
communication  at  all  with  them,  and  who  even  had  no 
knowledge  of  God.  He  ascribed  to  this  Creator  an  only 
Son,  but  begotten  in  time  and  quite  different  from  the 
Word  the  Son  of  Him  who  he  said  was  begotten  by  no 
other,  that  is  probably  of  the  supreme  God.  Tertullian, 
Epiphanius,  St.  Augustine,  and  Theodoret,  say  that  he 
attributed  the  creation  of  the  world  to  several  angels, 
and  to  divers  inferior  powers.  He  had  his  Silence,  his 
Profundity,  his  Plenitude,  many  invisible  and  ineffable 
Beings  above  the  Creator,  that  is  all  the  follies  which 
Valentinus  followed,  and  also  amplified.  Thus  he  joined 
the  superstitions  of  the  Jews  to  the  extravagant  tenets  of 
Carpocrates  and  the  other  Gnostics,  which  were  quite 
contrary  to  Judaism. 

He  maintained,  that  the  law  and  the  prophets  came, 
like  the  world,  not  from  the  true  God,  but  from  angels  : 
that  the  God  of  the  Jews  was  but  an  angel,  and  not  the 
Sovereign  God ;   and  that  He  who  ordained  the  law,  was 

VOL.  III.  3a 


54-^  CERINTHUS. 

one  of  the  Creators  of  the  world,  and  even  an  evil  angel, 
according  to  Epiphanius,  who  in  this  agrees  with  what 
Irenseus  and  Theodoret  assure  us,  that  according  to 
Cerinthus  the  creator  of  the  world  had  no  knowledge  of 
God.  This  contempt  which  he  cast  upon  the  author  of 
the  law,  gives  ground  to  believe  that  he  did  not  observe  it 
out  of  principle  and  conscience,  but  only  to  avoid  the 
persecutions  which  the  Jews  raised  upon  the  Christians ; 
and  that  even  many  of  his  disciples,  though  they  would 
make  others  keep  it,  yet  did  not  observe  it  themselves. 
At  least  Ignatius  asserts,  that  there  were  some  who 
taught  Judaism,  without  being  circumcised  notwithstand- 
ing :  and  we  may  understand  in  a  literal  sense  what  is 
said  in  the  Apocalypse,  against  the  blasphemies  of  those 
who  pretended  to  be  Jews,  and  were  not,  but  were  a 
Synagogue  of  Satan. 

With  regard  to  our  Lord,  Cerinthus  distinguished  be- 
tween Jesus  and  the  Christ.  He  said  that  Jesus  was  a 
mere  man,  born  like  others  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  but  that 
He  excelled  all  the  rest  in  justice,  prudence,  and  wisdom  ; 
that  when  Jesus  was  baptized,  the  Christ  of  the  Sovereign 
God,  that  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  according  to  Epiphanius, 
descended  upon  him  under  the  figure  of  a  dove,  revealed 
to  him  the  Father,  Who  was  hitherto  unknown,  and  by 
his  means  revealed  him  to  others,  and  that  it  was  by  the 
power  of  Christ  that  Jesus  wrought  miracles  :  that  Jesas 
suffered  and  rose  again ;  but  that  the  Christ  left  him, 
and  re-ascended  into  his  plenitude  without  suffering  any 
thing.  Thus  he  destroyed,  with  all  the  other  Gnostics, 
this  fundamental  truth  of  our  salvation,  that  the  Word 
was  made  flesh.  Though  he  asserted  that  our  Saviour 
was  born  of  Joseph,  yet  he  seems  to  have  said  that  he 
was  the  Son  of  the  Creator,  and  that  by  his  union  with 
the  Christ  he  even  became  the  Son  of  the  supreme  God. 
But  this  liar  did  not  always  remember  what  he  had  ad- 
vanced :  for  he  maintained  sometimes,  that  Jesus  was  not 
yet  risen,  and  that  he  would  not  rise  again  till  the  general 
resurrection. 


CERINTHUS.  543 

There  were  some  among  the  Cerinthians,  who  absolutely 
denied  the  resurrection  of  the  dead :  and  according  to 
Epiphanius,  they  are  the  persons  whom  St.  Paul  refutes 
by  establishing  the  tenet  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  all  mankind.  We  may  also  apply  to  them 
the  passage,  in  which  Polycarp  calls  some  persons  Anti- 
christs, who  opposed  the  Incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  mystery  of  the  cross,  the  resurrection,  and  the  judg- 
ment. It  is  likewise  held,  that  they  are  the  Cerinthians, 
who  as  St.  Paul  observes,  were  baptized  in  the  name  of 
those  among  them  who  died  without  baptism,  for  fear  lest 
when  they  rose  again,  they  should  be  punished  for  not 
having  received  that  Sacrament,  and  fall  under  the  power 
of  the  Creator.  Their  baptism  was  admitted  by  the 
Church,  according  to  St.  Jerome. 

It  was  partly  to  confute  the  heresies  of  Cerinthus,  that 
St.  John  wrote  his  Gospel :  and  yet  this  could  not  hinder 
some  heretics  from  saying  that  Cerinthus  himself  was 
the  author  of  that  Gospel.  The  Cerinthians  however 
received  neither  St.  John's  Gospel,  nor  any  other  but 
that  of  St.  Matthew,  part  of  which  they  cut  off  too. 
They  rejected  also  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  but  above 
all  St.  Paul  as  an  enemy  to  the  law. 

It  is  probable  enough  that  Ignatius  means  the  Cerin- 
thians, when  he  advises  the  Magnesians  not  to  suffer 
themselves  to  be  deceived  with  the  old,  but  unprofit- 
able, fables  of  those  who  having  another  name  besides 
that  of  Christian,  would  live  according  to  the  law  of 
the  Jews,  though  they  pronounced  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ :  he  seems  at  the  same  time  to  charge  them  with 
introducing  a  Word  who  came  forth  from  silence,  and 
with  denying  the  reality  of  our  Saviour  s  birth,  death, 
and  resurrection. 

Besides  so  many  other  extravagances,  Philastrius  says 
that  Cerinthus  honoured  Judas,  and  on  the  other  hand 
rejected  the  martyrs  with  execration. 

He  likewise  fell  into  another  error,  which  occasioned 
his  disciples  to  be  caUed  by  the  name  of  Chiliasts  or 


544  CERINTHUS. 

Millenaries,  upon  the  account  of  a  chimerical  and  entirely 
carnal  reign,  which  they  asserted  was  to  continue  a  thou- 
sand years  upon  the  earth.  For  as  Cerinthus  was  perfectly 
sensual  in  his  disposition,  his  hopes  aspired  to  no  higher 
pleasures  than  those  of  the  flesh,  that  is  to  feasts  and 
weddings ;  and  to  render  these  voluptuous  satisfactions  a 
little  more  creditable,  there  were  to  be  festivals,  sacrifices, 
and  immolations  of  victims  celebrated  at  Jerusalem  for  a 
thousand  years  after  the  resurrection.  This  is  what  he 
taught  in  an  apocalypse  or  book  of  revelations,  which  he 
had  the  confidence  to  publish  as  if  he  had  been  some 
great  apostle.  Some  have  even  ascribed  to  him  the 
Apocalypse  of  St.  John,  imagining  that  he  intended  to 
gain  authority  to  his  idle  notions  by  so  illustrious  a 
name. 

If  they  are  principally  the  Cerinthians  whom  Ignatius 
opposes  in  his  epistles,  as  Bishop  Bull  is  of  opinion, 
we  must  apply  to  them  the  accusations  which  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Church  of  Smyrna  he  prefers  against 
those  who  resisted  the  grace  brought  to  men  by  Jesus 
Christ.  "They  do  not,"  says  he,  "give  themselves  the 
trouble  of  practising  charity ;  they  take  no  care  of  the 
widow  or  orphan,  of  the  afflicted,  or  those  who  suffer 
either  in  or  out  of  prison,  of  the  hungry  or  thirsty.  They 
abstain  from  the  Eucharist  and  public  prayer,  because 
they  do  not  confess  the  Eucharist  to  be  the  flesh  of  our 
Saviour.  And  thus  by  contradicting  the  gift  of  God, 
they  die  by  their  questions  and  disputes,  instead  of  rising 
again  by  love." 

The  Cerinthians  were  also  called  Merinthians,  either 
because  Cerinthus  had  one  Merinthus  for  his  assistant 
in  his  extravagances,  or  because  he  was  called  by  that 
name  as  well  as  the  other. 

As  we  do  not  find  any  authors  who  wrote  against  the 
Cerinthians  after  Origen,  it  is  thought  that  the  name  of 
these  heretics  might  grow  extinct  about  that  time,  though 
their  errors  passed  to  other  sects. — Tillemont,  Lardner, 
and  the  original  Authorities  quoted  by  them. 


CHAD.  545 


CHAD,  OR  CEADDA,  SAINT. 


Saint  Chad,  whose  name  is  still  retained  in  the  calendar 
of  the  Church  of  England,  was  born  in  the  early  part  of 
the  seventh  century,  and  received  his  education  in  the 
monastery  of  Lindisfarne,  under  Aidan.  He  afterwards 
went  to  Ireland,  and  spent  some  time  in  the  company 
of  St.  Egbert,  until  he  was  recalled  to  England  by  his 
brother  Cedd,  to  govern  the  monastery  of  Lestingau, 
which  had  been  founded  in  Cleveland  by  Cedd  and 
another  brother  Cynebel.  When  Cedd  was  made  Bishop 
of  London,  or  of  the  East  Saxons,  he  left  to  St.  Chad  the 
entire  government  of  this  house,  in  which  the  religious 
customs  of  Lindisfarne  were  established. 

The  see  of  York  having  been  vacant  for  many  years, 
the  church  of  Northumbria  beings  governed  by  the  Bishops 
of  Lindisfarne,  Wilfred,  abbot  of  Ripon,  was  at  length 
appointed  to  the  bishopric;  he  was  a  Romanizer,  and 
consequently  would  not  receive  consecration  from  the 
independent  Scottish  bishops.  The  sees  of  Canterbury  and 
Rochester  were  both  of  them  vacant,  and  he  was  therefore 
obliged  to  go  over  to  France,  where  he  was  consecrated  at 
Paris,  by  Agilbert  and  other  French  bishops  ;  King  Oswi 
did  not  approve  of  the  slight  thus  cast  upon  the  national 
church,  and  conferred  the  see  upon  Chad.  He  went  for 
consecration  to  Wina,  Bishop  of  Wessex,  for  whom  King 
Coinwalch,  or  Kenwal,  had  just  built  the  cathedral  church 
of  Winchester,  founded  a.  d.  660.  On  this  occasion  we 
find  the  first  act  of  communion  between  the  Welsh  and 
English  Christians ;  two  Welsh  Bishops  having  come 
probably  from  Cornwall  and  Somerset,  to  assist  Wina 
at  the  consecration  of  Chad.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be 
wondered  at,  if  these  old  inhabitants  of  Britain  continued 
still  unwilling  to  join  in  Christian  fellowship  with  the 
people  who  had  driven  them  out  of  the  best  and  fairest 
portion  of  the  island,  and  with  whom  their  own  independ- 
ent spirit  still  kept  them  at  frequent  war;  especially  when 

VOL   III.  3  b 


U6  CHAD. 

these  new  converts  to  the  faith,  instead  of  coming"  to  thera 
for  instruction,  accused  them  of  errors  in  their  practice, 
and  wanted  them  to  conform  to  ordinances  of  their  own. 

Chad,  being  thus  conseci'ated  Bishop  of  York,  shewed 
himself  in  all  things  a  pupil  of  the  good  Scottish  Bishop 
Aidan,  living  in  the  most  self-denying  manner,  and  jour- 
neying about  on  foot  to  preach  at  cot  or  castle,  villages  or 
towns.  Wilfrid,  finding  his  see  occupied  by  another^  made 
no  complaint ;  but  staying  in  Kent,  where  there  was  then 
no  bishop,  continued  to  ordain  priests  and  to  exercise  the 
acts  of  his  function  there,  till  Archbishop  Theodore  came. 
It  seems  that  Theodore  had  no  intention  to  interfere  with 
Chad  as  an  intruder,  for  he  considered  that  the  King  had 
a  right  to  dispose  of  the  bishopric;  but  he  had  some 
doubts  whether  the  consecration  of  the  British  bishops 
was  according  to  order.  "If  you  doubt  it,"  said  Chad, 
•'  I  willingly  resign  my  bishopric.  I  ever  thought  myself 
unworthy  of  the  dignity,  but  consented  to  take  it  out  of 
obedience  to  my  King."  Theodore  replied,  that  he  by  no 
means  wished  him  to  resign  his  bishopric  ;  but  if  he  had 
nojt  been  duly  consecrated,  he  was  himself  ready  to  com- 
plete his  consecration.  This  he  did  ;  but  Chad,  probably 
seeing  that  there  was  a  division  of  parties  in  the  province, 
withdrew  to  his  humble  retirement  at  Lestingau  ;  and 
Wilfrid  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  see.  Theodore, 
struck  by  the  worth  of  this  primitive-mannered  Christian, 
when  the  see  of  Lichfield  shortly  after  became  vacant, 
recommended  Chad  to  Wulfhere,  King  of  Mereia.  He 
had  now  a  province  not  much  less  in  extent  than  the 
Northumbrian  kingdom,  having  all  the  counties  which 
compose  the  midland  circuit,  and  Staffordshire,  with  part 
of  Shropshire  and  Cheshire,  beside.  Theodore,  therefore, 
at  another  meeting,  having  for  some  time  in  vain  entreated 
him  to  use  a  horse  for  more  expedition  on  his  journexs, 
at  length  ordered  one  of  his  own  horses  to  be  brought, 
and  insisted  upon  mounting  him  himself.  The  arch- 
bishop is  said  also  to  have  made  him  promise  to  have  with 


CHAD.  o47 

him  in  case  of  need  a  horse- waggon,  or  jaunting-car ;  which 
was  probably  the  kind  of  carriage  then  used  by  persons  of 
quality  on  peaceful  travels. 

Thus  provided,  the  good  old  Saxon  journeyed  diligently 
about  the  midland  counties,  and  in  a  few  years  gained  a 
high  reputation  for  his  Christian  \irtues.  Wulfhere  gave 
him  a  grant  of  land  in  Lincolnshire,  on  which  he  founded 
a  monastery,  which  is  supposed  to  have  stood  at  Barton 
upon  Humber,  where  there  is  still  standing  a  very  ancient 
Saxon  church.  He  died  on  the  2nd  of  March,  a.  d.  672, 
within  three  years  after  he  had  been  appointed  to  the  see 
of  Lichfield  ;  at  which  city  he  resided  with  seven  or  eight 
of  his  clergy  in  a  private  house,  employing  himself  with 
them,  whenever  he  was  not  visiting  his  diocese,  in  study 
and  prayer. 

It  is  no  wonder,  says  the  venerable  Bede,  "  that  he  joy- 
fully beheld  the  day  of  his  death,  or  rather  the  day  of  our 
Lord,  which  he  had  always  carefully  expected  till  it  came; 
for  notwithstanding  his  many  merits  of  continence,  humi- 
lity, teaching,  prayer,  voluntary  poverty,  and  other  virtues, 
he  was  so  full  of  the  fear  of  God,  so  mindful  of  his  last 
end  in  all  his  actions,  that,  as  I  was  informed  by  one  of 
the  brothers  who  instructed  me  in  divinity,  and  who  had 
been  bred,  in  his  monastery,  and  under  his  direction, 
whose  name  was  Trumhere,  if  it  happened  that  there  blew 
a  strong  gust  of  wind  when  he  was  reading  or  doing  any 
other  thing,  he  immediately  called  upon  God  for  mercy» 
and  begged  it  might  be  extended  to  all  mankind.  If  the 
wind  grew  stronger,  he  closed  his  book,  and  prostrating 
himself  on  the  ground,  prayed  still  more  earnestly.  But,  if 
it  proved  a  violent  storm  of  wind  or  rain,  or  else  that  the 
earth  and  air  were  filled  with  thunder  and  lightning,  he 
would  repair  to  the  church,  and  devote  himself  to  prayers 
and  repeating  of  psalms  till  the  weather  became  calm. 
Being  asked  by  his  followers  why  he  did  so,  he  answered, 
"  Have  not  you  read — '  The  Lord  also  thundered  in  the 
heavens,  and  the  Highest  gave  forth  His  voice.  Yea,  He 
sent  out  His  arrows  and  scattered  them ;  and  He  shot  out 


548  CHADERTON. 

lightnings,  and  discomfited  them.'  For  the  Lord  moves 
the  air,  raises  the  winds,  darts  lightning,  and  thunders 
from  heaven,  to  excite  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  to  fear 
Him;  to  put  them  in  mind  of  the  future  judgment ;  to 
dispel  their  pride,  and  vanquish  their  boldness,  by  bring- 
ing into  their  thoughts  that  dreadful  time,  when  the  hea- 
vens and  the  earth  being  in  a  flame.  He  will  come  in  the 
clouds,  with  great  power  and  majesty,  to  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead.  Wherefore,'  said  he,  '  it  behoves  us  to  an- 
swer His  heavenly  admonition  with  due  fear  and  love; 
that,  as  often  as  He  lifts  His  hand  through  the  trembling 
sky,  as  it  were  to  strike,  but  does  not  yet  let  it  fall,  we 
may  immediately  implore  His  mercy  ;  and  searching  the 
recesses  of  our  hearts,  and  cleansing  the  filth  of  our  vices, 
we  may  carefully  behave  ourselves  so  as  never  to  be 
struck.'" 

His  memory  is  duly  honoured  by  the  beautiful  cathedral 
of  Lichfield,  which  is  called  St.  Chad's. — Bedo.  Churtons. 
Early  English  Church. 


CHADEETON,    LAURENCE. 

Laurence  Chaderton,  the  first  master  of  Emanuel  Col- 
lege, Cambridge,  was  born  at  Chatterton,  in  Lancashire,  in 
1546.  His  parents  were  of  the  Romish  religion,  but  the 
son  after  studying  the  law  went  to  Cambridge,  where  he 
obtained  a  scholarship  in  Christ's  College  ;  for  which  his 
father  disinherited  him.  In  1578  he  took  his  degree  of 
B.D.,  and  was  chosen  lecturer  of  St.  Clements  Church, 
Cambridge,  where  he  preached  many  years ;  and  such  was 
his  reputation  that  Sir  Walter  Mildmay  declared  that,  if 
he  would  not  accept  the  mastership  of  his  College,  the 
foundation  should  not  go  on.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
reign  of  James  I.  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  divines  at 
the  Hampton  Court  Conference,  at  which  he  attended  in  a 
Turkey  gown,  and  he  was  also  one  of  the  translators  of  the 
Bible,  being  one  of  the  Cambridge  divines,  who  translated 


CHALLONER.  5 10 

from  Cbrofiicles  to  the  Canticles  inclusive.  In  161-^  he 
took  his  doctor  s  degree ;  and  after  making  provision  for 
twelve  fellows,  and  above  forty  scholars  in  his  college,  he 
resigned  in  favour  of  Dr.  Preston.  He  died  in  1640. 
He  wrote  a  Treatise  on  Justification,  and  a  sermon 
preached  at  St.  Pauls  Cross. — Clarke.    Fuller.   Strype. 


CHALLONEE,   EICHAED. 

Richard  Challonee,  a  Romish  divine,  was  born  at 
Lewes,  in  Sussex,  on  29th  September,  1691.  His  father 
and  mother  w^ere  protestants,  but  he  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Gother,  Romish  chaplain  at  Warworth,  in  Northamp- 
tonshire, by  whom  he  was  led  astray,  and  in  1704  was  sent 
to  the  college  of  the  English  secular  priest  of  the  Romish 
persuasion,  in  the  university  of  Douay,  founded  by  Cardinal 
Alan  in  1568. — (See  his  Life.) — He  was  appointed  pro- 
fessor of  poetry,  afterwards  of  rhetoric,  and  in  1713  of 
philosophy.  He  was  ordained  priest  in  1716,  and  in  1718 
was  appointed  to  the  chair  of  divinity.  In  1720  he  became 
vice-president  of  his  college,  and  ten  years  afterwards  was 
sent  on  what  is  called  the  English  mission,  to  officiate 
among  the  Roman  Catholic  dissenters  of  England.  He 
now  commenced  his  series  of  controversial  works,  among 
which  was  a  reply  to  Middleton's  well-known  Letter  from 
Rome.  For  this  intemperate  attack  he  was  denounced  as 
an  enemy  to  his  country,  and  was  obliged  to  abscond.  In 
1741  he  was  made  titular  Bishop  of  Loudon  and  Salis- 
bury, and  vicar  apostolic  in  England  for  the  metropolitan 
district.  He  was  soon  afterwards  accused,  upon  the  testi- 
mony of  an  informer,  of  acting  against  the  anti-papal  law 
of  William  III.,  but  was  acquitted.  In  1780  he  was  again 
in  danger  from  Lord  George  Gordon  s  riots,  and  died 
in  the  beginning  of  the  following  year.  He  wrote  : 
1.  The  Catholic  Christian  instmcted  in  the  Sacraments, 
Sacrifices,  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Church.  2.  Memoirs  of 
3b  2 


550  CHAMPEAUX. 

Missionary  Priests,  and  others,  of  both  sexes,  who  suffered 
on  account  of  their  Religion,  from  1577  to  1688.  3.  Spirit 
of  Dissenting  Teachers.  4.  Grounds  of  the  old  Religion. 
5.  Unerring  Authority  of  the  Catholic  Church.  6.  A  Caveat 
against  Methodism. — Life  prefixed  to  Memoirs  of  Missionary 
Priests. 


CHALONEK,    EDWARD. 

Edward  Chaloner  was  bom  in  1596.  He  was  educated 
at  All- Soul's  College,  Oxford,  became  principal  of  Alban 
Hall,  and  chaplain  to  James  I.  He  died  of  the  plague  at 
Oxford,  in  1625.  He  wrote— 1.  "The  Authority,  Univer- 
sality, and  Visibility  of  the  Church,"  4to.  1625.  2.  Six 
Sermons,  4to. — Wood. 


CHAMBRE,  FRANCIS  ILLHARRART  DE  LA. 

Francis  Illharrart  de  la  Chambre,  a  doctor  of  the 
Sorbonne,  was  born  at  Paris  in  1698,  and  died  there 
in  1753.  His  principal  works  are  :  Traite  de  la  Veritable 
Religion,  5  vols,  12mo.  Traite  du  Formulaire,  4  vols, 
12mo.  Traite  de  la  Constitution  Unigenitus,  2  vols, 
12mo.  La  Realite  du  Jansenisme,  12mo.  Introduction 
a  la  Theologie,  1  vol.  12mo.  Traite  de  I'Eglise,  6  vols, 
12mo.  Traite  de  la  Grace,  4  vols,  12mo.  La  Logique,  la 
Morale,  et  la  Metaphysique,  Paris,  1754,  2  vols,  12mo. — 
Biog :  Universelle. 


CHAMPEAUX,  OR  CAMPELLENSIS,  WILLIAM  DE. 

William  de  Champeaux,  an  eminent  philosopher  of  the 
schools,  was  born  in  the  village  of  Champeaux,  near  Melun, 
in  the  province  of  Brie,   and  flourished  in  the  11th  and 


CHANDLER.  551 

12th  centuries.  After  studying  law  under  Anselm,  Dean 
of  Leon,  he  was  ordained  Archdeacon  of  Paris,  and  ap- 
pointed to  read  lectures  on  logic  in  the  schools  of  that 
church.  Here  he  was  involved  in  a  controversy  with 
his  ungrateful  pupil  Abelard. — (See  his  Life.) — Some 
time  after  he  retired  with  some  of  his  pupils  to  a 
monastery,  in  which  was  St.  Victor's  Chapel,  near  Paris, 
and  there  founded  the  abbey  of  regular  canons.  He  con- 
tinued to  teach  in  that  convent,  and,  as  generally  sup- 
posed, was  the  first  public  professor  of  scholastic  divinity. 
He  was  made  Bishop  of  Chalons-sur-Marne  in  1 113,  and 
died  in  1121.  He  maintained  the  doctrine  of  the  Ptealists, 
and  had  the  appellation  of  the  Venerable  Doctor. — Diipin. 
Brucker. 

CHANDLER,   EDWARD, 

Edward  Chandler  was  the  son  of  Samuel  Chandler, 
Esq.,  of  the  city  of  Dublin.  He  received  his  education  at 
Emanuel  College,  Cambridge,  where  he  took  his  degree  of 
M.A.,  and  on  being  ordained  priest,  became  chaplain  to 
Bishop  Lloyd,  of  Lichfield,  afterwards  of  Worcester,  who 
gave  him  preferment  in  both  those  cathedrals.  In  1717 
Dr.  Chandler  was  nominated  to  the  see  of  Lichfield,  from 
whence,  in  1730,  he  was  translated  to  Durham.  He  died 
in  Grosvenor-square,  July  20th,  1750,  and  was  buried  at 
Famham  Royal,  in  the  county  of  Bucks.  He  wrote  A 
Defence  of  Christianity  from  the  Prophecies  of  the  Old 
Testament,  wherein  are  considered  all  the  objections 
against  this  kind  of  proof  advanced  in  a  late  Discourse  on 
the  Grounds  and  Pieasons  of  the  Christian  Religion,  Lon- 
don, 1725,  8vo,  a  very  learned  and  elaborate  work,  which 
compelled  Collins  to  produce,  in  1727,  a  second  book, 
entitled.  The  Scheme  of  LiterEd  Prophecy  considered, 
which  occasioned  a  second  answer  from  the  Bishop, 
entitled,  A  Vindication  of  the  Defence  of  Christianity, 
from  the  Prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament,  published  in 
1728;  in  this  he  larwlv  and  very  solidlv  vindicates   the 


553  CHANDLER. 

antiquity  and  authority  of  the  Book  of  Daniel,  and  the 
application  of  the  prophecies  there  contained  to  the  Mes- 
siah, against  Collin's  objections ;  and  also  fully  obviates 
what  that  writer  had  farther  advanced  against  the  anti- 
quity and  universality  of  the  tradition  and  expectation 
among  the  Jews  concerning  the  Messiah.  His  other  pub- 
lications were,  Eight  Occasional  Sermons ;  the  Chronolo- 
gical Dissertation,  prefixed  to  Amald's  Ecclesiasticus ; 
and  a  preface  to  a  posthumous  work  of  Dr.  Ralph  Cud- 
worth's,  entitled,  A  Treatise  concerning  Eternal  and  Im- 
mutable Morality. Shaw's  Staffordshire.     Hutchinsons 

Durham.     Leland. 


CHANDLER,  SAMUEL. 

Samuel  Chandler  was  born  at  Hungerford,  in  1693. 
After  studying  at  an  academy  in  Bridgwater,  he  became 
a  pupil  to  Mr.  Samuel  Jones,  at  Gloucester.  On  leaving 
this  seminary,  Mr.  Chandler  went  to  Leyden,  and  at  his 
return,  became  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  congregation 
at  Peckham  ;  but  meeting  with  some  losses  in  the  South 
Sea  scheme,  he  engaged  in  the  bookselling  business,  in 
partnership  with  Mr.  Gray,  in  the  Poultry,  who  himself, 
afterwards  became  a  minister,  and  was  ordained  in  the 
Church  of  England.  Mr.  Chandler,  on  entering  into  this 
concern,  did  not  forsake  the  pastoral  office,  and  in  addition 
to  his  charge  at  Peckham,  was  chosen  lecturer  at  the  Old 
Jewry.  His  sermons  at  this  institution  he  digested  into 
one  discourse,  and  published  it  with  the  title  of  "  A  Vin- 
dication of  the  Christian  Pteligion,"  which  he  presented  to 
Archbishop  Wake,  who  paid  him  a  handsome  compliment 
in  return.  About  1720  he  settled  as  the  stated  minister 
of  the  Old  Jewry,  after  which  he  relinquished  business, 
and  obtained  the  degree  of  doctor  in  divinity  from 
Edinburgh  and  Glasgow.  He  was  also  elected  a  fellow  of 
the  Royal  and  Antiquarian  Societies.  On  the  death  of 
George  II.  he  published  a  sermon,  in  which  he  compared 


CHAPMAN.  555 

that  monarch  to  David.  This  led  Peter  Annet  to  print  his 
tract,  entitled  "  The  History  of  the  Man  after  God's  own 
Heart,"  in  which  the  character  of  David  was  grossly  vilified. 
Dr.  Chandler  then  published  "  A  Review  of  the  History  of 
the  Man  after  God's  own  Heart ;"  and  he  also  prepared 
for  the  press  "  A  Critical  History  of  the  Life  of  David," 
but  it  was  not  published  till  after  the  author's  death, 
which  happened  May  8,  1766.  Besides  the  above  works 
he  wrote — 1.  Pieflections  on  the  Conduct  of  the  Modern 
Deists,  8vo.  2.  A  Vindication  of  Daniel's  Prophecies, 
against  Collins,  Svo.  3.  A  Translation  of  Limborch's 
History  of  the  Inquisition,  2  vols.  4to.  4.  A  Paraphrase 
and  Commentary  on  the  Prophecy  of  Joel,  4to.  5.  The 
History  of  Persecution,  Svo.  6.  A  Vindication  of  the 
History  of  the  Old  Testament,  Svo.  7.  A  Defence  of  the 
Character  of  Joseph,  Svo.  8.  The  Witnesses  of  the 
Resurrection  re-examined,  Svo.  9.  The  Case  of  Subscrip- 
tion considered,  Svo.  10.  Cassiodori  Senatores  Complex- 
iones  in  Epistolas,  &c.,  12mo. ;  and  a  number  of  tracts. 
His  sermons  were  published  after  his  death,  in  4  vols. 
Svo.,  with  his  portrait  prefixed;  and  in  1777,  his  Para- 
phrase and  Notes  on  the  Epistles  to  the  Galatians,  Ephe- 
sians,  and  Thessalonians,  in  1  vol.  4to. — Universal  Biog- 
raphical Dictionary. 

CHAPMAN,  JOHN. 

John  Chapman  was  born  at  Stratfieldsay,  in  Hampshire, 
of  which  parish  his  father  was  rector,  in  1704.  He  was 
educated  at  Eton  and  King's  College,  Cambridge,  where 
he  proceeded  to  his  degree  of  M.A.  in  1731.  His  first 
promotion  was  to  the  rectory  of  Mersham,  in  Kent,  with 
that  of  Alderton,  in  the  same  county,  given  to  him  by 
Arbichshop  Potter,  to  whom  he  was  chaplain.  He  was 
also  Archdeacon  of  Sudbury,  and  treasurer  of  Chichester. 
He  was  created  doctor  in  divinity  by  the  university  of 
Oxford  in  1741.  As  executor  to  Archbishop  Potter,  he 
presented  himself  to  the  precentorship  of  Lincoln;  but 


554  GHAPPEL. 

this  was  set  aside  by  the  lords,  after  the  chancellor  had 
given  a  decree  in  his  favour.  Dr.  Chapman  died  October 
14,  1784.  His  first  publication  was  entitled,  The  Objec- 
tions of  a  late  Anonymous  Writer,  (Collins)  against  the 
Book  of  Daniel,  considered,  Cambridge,  1728,  8vo.  This 
was  followed  by  his  Remarks  on  Dr.  Middleton's  cele- 
brated Letter  to  Dr.  Waterland,  1731.  In  his  Eusebius, 
S  vols,  8vo,  1739,  1741,  he  defended  Christianity  against 
the  objections  of  Morgan  and  Tindal.  In  1741  he  was 
made  Archdeacon  of  Sudbury,  and  was  honoured  with  the 
diploma  of  D.D.  by  the  university  of  Oxford.  He  soon 
after  published  two  tracts  relating  to  Phlegon,  in  answer 
to  Dr.  Sykes,  who  maintained  that  the  eclipse  mentioned 
by  that  writer  had  no  relation  to  the  wonderful  darkness 
that  happened  at  our  Saviours  crucifixion.  In  1743,  in 
an  elegant  Latin  dissertation,  addressed  to  Tunstall, 
public  orator  of  the  university  of  Cambridge,  he  maintain- 
ed that  Cicero  published  two  editions  of  his  Academics  ; 
an  opinion  which  is  applauded  by  Dr.  Ross,  in  his  edition 
of  Cicero's  Epistolas  ad  Familiares,  1749.  In  1744  he 
published  a  Letter  on  the  Ancient  Numeral  Characters  of 
the  Roman  Legions,  in  which  he  ably  controverts  an 
opinion  of  Dr.  Middleton  on  that  subject.  In  1745  he 
assisted  Dr.  Pearce,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Rochester,  in 
his  edition  of  Cicero  de  Officiis.  In  1746  Middleton 
retaliated,  by  assailing  his  Charge  to  the  Archdeaconry  of 
Sudbury,  entitled  Popery  the  True  Bane  of  Letters.  In 
1747  he  prefixed,  without  his  name,  to  Mounteney's 
edition  of  Demosthenes,  some  observations  on  the  Com- 
mentaries commonly  ascribed  to  Ulpian,  and  a  map  of 
ancient  Greece. — Bill  Topog.  Britan.  Harwood's  Alumni 
Etonenses.     Leland. 


CHAPPEL,  WILLIAM. 

William  Chappel,  an  excellent  prelate,  of  whom  a  long 
account  is  given  in  the  Biographia  Britannica,  though  there 


CHAPPELOW.  555 

does  not  seem  to  be  much  worthy  of  record  to  distinguish 
hira  from  other  pious  prelates,  was  born  at  Lexington,  in 
Nottinghamshire,  in  1582,  and  educated  at  Mansfield,  from 
whence  he  removed  to  Christ's  College,  Cambridge,  where 
he  obtained  a  fellowship.  He  was  a  famous  disputant, 
which  recommended  him  to  Archbishop  Laud,  by  whose 
interest  he  was  made  Dean  of  Cashel,  in  Ireland,  in  1633. 
Soon  after  this  he  was  appointed  Provost  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  and  in  1638  was  advanced  to  the  Bishopric  of 
Cork.  He  suffered  many  hardships  in  the  Rebellion, 
and  on  landing  in  England  was  sent  to  prison,  but  soon 
obtained  his  liberty.  He  died  at  Derby  in  1649.  He  was 
the  author  of  a  book,  entitled  "Methodus  Concionandi ;" 
and  a  treatise  on  the  Use  of  the  Holy  Scripture.  The 
Whole  Duty  of  Man  has  also  been  ascribed  to  this  prelate, 
but  without  probability.  Archbishop  Usher  and  Bishop 
Martin  were  his  fiercest  oppenents.  The  cause  of  his 
being  so  much  persecuted  was  the  zeal  and  vigour  he  had 
shewn  in  enforcing  uniformity  and  strict  church  discipline 
io  his  college,  in  opposition  to  the  schism  and  fanaticism 
of  those  times.  At  Cambridge  he  was  thought  a  puritan, 
f^-om  the  strictness  of  his  conduct ;  puritans  at  that  period 
differing  from  their  successors ;  in  Ireland  he  was  deemed 
a  papist,  from  the  fervour  of  his  devotions. — Autobiography. 
Peck. 

CHAPPEIX)W,  LEONAED. 

Leonard  Chappelow  was  born  in  1683,  and  educated  at 
St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  where  he  took  his  bachelor's 
degree  in  1712,  that  of  master  of  arts  in  1716,  and  that  of 
B.D.  in  1723.  He  succeeded  Simon  Ockley  in  the  Arabic 
professorship  in  1720.  He  also  obtained  a  fellowship, 
which  he  vacated  by  accepting  the  livings  of  Great  and 
Little  Hormead,  in  Hertfordshire.  In  1738  he  stood  for 
the  mastership  of  his  college,  but  failed,  after  a  sharp 
contest.  In  1727  he  published  an  edition  of  Spencer 
"De  Legibus  Hebraeorum,"  2  vols,  folio;  in  1730  "Ele- 


556  CHARRON. 

menta  Linguae  Arabicas ;"  in  1752  "A  Commentary  on 
the  Book  of  Job,"  2  vols,  4to;  and  in  1758  *'  The  Travel- 
ler," an  Arabic  poem,  translated  from  Abu  Ismael.  In 
1765  he  printed  two  sermons  on  the  state  of  the  soul, 
written  by  Bishop  Bull,  with  a  preface.  His  last  publica- 
tion was  entitled  "  Six  Assemblies,  or  ingenious  Conversa- 
tions of  learned  men  among  the  Arabians,"  8vo.,  1767. 
He  died  in   1768. —  Gen.  Blog.  Diet. 

CHAENOGK,  STEPHEN. 

Stephen  Chaenock  was  born  in  London,  in  16'28,  and 
educated  first  in  Emanuel  College,  Cambridge,  whence  he 
removed  to  New  College,  Oxford,  in  1649,  and  obtained  a 
fellowship  by  the  parliamentary  interest.  Afterwards  he 
went  into  Ireland,  where  his  preaching  was  much  admired 
by  the  Presbyterians  and  Independents.  At  the  Restora- 
tion he  refused  to  conform,  and  returned  to  London,  where 
he  preached  in  private  meetings,  and  had  the  reputation  of 
a  man  of  learning  and  elocution.  He  died  in  1680.  He 
printed  only  a  single  sermon  in  his  life-time,  which  is  in 
the  Morning  Exercise ;  but  after  his  death,  two  folio 
volumes  from  his  manuscripts  were  published  in  1683. — 
Gen.  Blog.  Diet. 

CHATIRON,  PETER. 

Peter  Chaeron  was  born  at  Paris,  in  1541.  He  was 
educated  for  the  bar,  but  afterwards  entered  into  holy 
orders,  and  became  celebrated  as  a  preacher.  Queen- 
Margaret,  Duchess  of  Blois,  made  him  her  chaplain,  and 
several  of-  the  bishops  wished  to  get  him  settled  in  their 
dioceses.  Charron  accepted  the  place  of  vicar-general  and 
canon  in  that  of  Cahors,  from  whence  he  removed  to 
Condom.  He  died  at  Paris  in  1603.  The  greatest 
intimacy  subsisted  between  him  and  Montague,  who 
ordered  by  his  will,  that  in  case  he  left  no  issue  male, 
Charron  should  assume  his  arms.    The  works  of  Charron 


CHATEL.  557 

are,  1.  Les  Trois  Verites,  1594.  2.  Discourses  ou  the 
Sacrament.  3.  Wisdom,  a  Treatise  of  Practical  Theology  ; 
of  which  there  have  been  two  translations,  the  last  by 
Dean  Stanhope,   in  three  vols.  8vo. —  Moreri 


CHASTELAIN,  CLAUDE. 

Claude  Chastelain,  canon  of  the  cathedral  church  of 
Paris,  his  native  place,  where  he  was  bom  in  1639, 
possessed  a  very  superior  degree  of  knowledge  in  the 
liturgies,  rites,  and  ceremonies  of  the  Church  ;  and  had 
for  that  purpose  travelled  over  Italy,  France,  and  Germany, 
studying  everywhere  the  particular  customs  of  each  sepa- 
rate church.  He  published  a  Universal  Martyrology, 
Paris,  1709,  4to,  and  the  Life  of  St.  Chaumont,  1697, 
Itimo.  He  also  published  the^Hagiographical  Dictionary, 
which  was  inserted  by  Menage  in  his  etymologies  of  the 
French  tongue.     He  died  in  1712. — Moreri. 


CHATEL,  PETER  DU,  in  Latin,  CASTELLAXUS. 

Peter  de  Chatel  was  born  at  Axe,  in  Burgundy, 
and  educated  at  Dijon.  He  assisted  Erasmus,  in  his 
translations  from  the  Greek,  and  became  corrector  of 
the  press  in  Frobenius's  office  at  Basil.  He  next  studied 
the  law  at  Bourges,  after  which  he  went  to  Piome,  where 
he  found  little  enjoyment,  except  in  contemplating  the 
remains  of  antiquity.  The  corruption  of  morals  in  the 
Church  of  Rome  filled  him  with  indignation,  and  he 
appears  to  have  conceived  as  bad  an  opinion  -of  it  as 
any  of  the  Reformers,  and  expressed  himself  respecting 
it  with  as  much  severity  as  they  did.  From  thence  he 
travelled  to  Venice,  and  next  visited  Cyprus,  where 
he  read  lectures  for  two  years  with  great  success.  He 
afterwards  went  to  Egypt,  Jerusalem,  and  Coustanti- 
voL.  Ill  3  c 


558  CHAUNCY. 

nople,  and  on  bis  return  home  was  appointed  reader  to 
Francis  I.  who  made  him  Bishop  of  Tulle,  and  afterwards 
of  Macon.  Henry  II.  translated  him  to  Orleans,  where 
he  died  in  155^.  He  was  a  strenuous  defender  of  the 
liberties  of  the  Gallican  Church,  and  exceedingly  liberal 
to  the  protestants.  He  wrote  an  oration  on  Francis,  and 
a  Latin  letter  for  that  King  to  Charles  V.  In  his  funeral 
oration  on  Francis,  he  hinted  that  the  soul  of  the  King 
had  gone  to  Heaven,  which  excited  the  ire  of  the  doctors 
of  the  Sorbonne,  who  thought  that  by  so  doing  he  opposed 
the  doctrine  of  Purgatory. — See  the  Life  of  Erasmus. — 
Moreri.     Jortins  Erasmus, 


CHAUNCY,  MAUEICE. 

Maurice  Chauncy  was  a  monk  of  the  Charter-house, 
London,  and,  with  many  others  of  the  same  order,  was 
imprisoned  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  for  refusing  to  own 
his  supremacy.  When  the  monastery  was  dissolved,  and 
several  of  his  brethren  executed  in  1535,  Chauncy,  and  a 
few  others,  contrived  to  remain  unmolested,  partly  in  Eng- 
land and  partly  in  Flanders,  until  the  accession  of  Queen 
Mary,  when  they  were  replased  at  Shene,  near  Richmond, 
a  monastery  formerly  belonging  to  the  Carthusians.  On 
the  Queen's  death,  they  were  permitted  to  go  to  Flanders, 
under  Chauncy,  who  was  now  their  prior.  He  removed 
from  Bruges  to  Douay,  and  from  Douay  to  Louvain.  He 
finally  settled  at  Nieuport,  under  the  crown  of  Spain.  He 
died  in  1531.  He  wrote  Historia  aliquot  nostri  Saeculi 
Martyrum,  cum  pia,  tum  lectu  jucunda,  nunquam  antehac 
Typis  excusa,  Mentz,  1550,  4to,  with  curious  copper- 
plates. This  work,  which  is  very  rare,  contains  the 
epitaph  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  written  by  himself,  the 
captivity  and  martyrdom  of  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester, 
of  Sir  Thomas  Moi-e,  and  of  other  eminent  persons  who 
were  executed  in  Henry  Vlllth's  reign. — Wood.     Dod. 


CHENEY. 


CHEMTsITZ,  OR  CHEMNITIUS. 


Chemnitz  was  born  in  1522,  at  Britzen,  in  the  marche 
of  Brandenburg,  where  his  father  was  a  wool-comber.  He 
studied  under  Melancthon  at  Wittemberg.  He  after- 
wards kept  a  school  in  PiTissia,  took  his  M.A.  degree,  and 
was  made  librarian  to  the  Prince.  In  1555  he  retired  to 
Wittemberg,  and  sojourned  with  Melancthon,  who  employ- 
ed him  in  reading  pubUcly  the  Common  places.  From 
thence  he  was  removed  to  Brunswick,  where,  partly  as 
pastor,  and  partly  as  superintendent,  he  resided  for 
thirty  years.  He  died  in  1586.  His  Examen  Concilii 
Tridentini,  Frankfort,  1585,  4  vols,  folio  and  4to,  is  said 
by  Mosheim  to  be  a  very  masterly  performance,  of  which 
an  English  translation  appeared  in  1582.  It  was  fiercely 
attacked  by  Andrada.  He  also  wrote,  1.  A  Treatise  on 
Indulgences,  Geneva,  1599,  -^vo.  2.  Harmonia  Evan- 
gelica,  Frankfort,  1600.  3.  Theologise  Jesuitarum  praeci- 
pua  capita,  Rochelle,  1589,  8vo. —  Clarke.  Mekhior  Adam. 
MosJieim. 


CHENEY,  RICHARD. 

The  author  of  the  present  work  is  not  aware  of  the 
existence  of  any  biography  of  this  prelate ;  but  there  are 
points  in  his  life  of  such  interest  to  the  student  of 
ecclesiastical  history,  that  all  notice  of  him  cannot  be 
omitted.  He  was  born  in  London,  in  1513.  He  was 
educated  at  Cambridge,  where  he  was  distinguished  as  a 
G  reek  scholar,  and  effected  the  true "  though  rare  way  of 
pronouncing  it,  which  Cheke  had  introduced.  In  this 
language  he  shewed  his  skill  once  at  Oxford,  in  discourse 
with  some  of  the  university  there  ;  and  blaming  the  old 
corrupt  way  of  pronouncing  some  of  the  Greek  letters, 
(which  some  of  them  defended,)  he  instanced  particularly 
in  the  sound  of  the  letter  jItoc,  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
English  letter/;  and  shewing  them  the  absurdity  thereof, 


560  CHENEY. 

be  told  them  of  a  certain  bishop,  in  whose  company  be 
once  was,  sitting  at  the  table  with  him,  (who  stiffly  main- 
tained the  common  way  of  pronouncing  the  Greek,)  he 
directed  him  to  read  those  words  in  the  twenty-seventh 
chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  'Hxl  Aa/xa  a-a^oi^x^&A.  Which 
bishop  presently  calling  for  the  Greek  Testament,  read  it, 

Ily,  I  ly,  lama  sab reading  false  Greek,  but  true 

English,  as  he  merrily  told  those  Oxford  scholars. 

In  his  younger  days  he  was  often  at  court,  and  was  pro- 
bably a  preacher  there,  but  he  preferred  retirement,  and 
became  incumbent  of  a  village  called  Halford,  in  Warwick- 
shire ;  and  was  in  Edward  Vlth  s  reign  Archdeacon  of 
Hereford.  In  the  first  synod  of  the  Church  of  England 
under  Queen  Mary,  he,  with  five  more  of  King  Edward  s 
learned  clergy,  disputed  openly  there  (amongst  other 
points)  against  transubstantiation :  which  he  declared 
himself  against,  although  he  was  for  a  Real  Presence. 
He  desired  the  convocation  patiently  to  hear  him,  trust- 
ing, he  said,  that  he  should  so  open  the  matter,  that  the 
verity  should  appear ;  protesting  furthermore,  that  he  was 
no  obstinate  nor  stubborn  man,  but  would  be  conformable 
to  all  reason ;  and  if  by  their  learning  they  could  answer 
his  reasons,  then  he  would  be  ruled  by  them,  and  say  as 
they  said.  For  he  would,  he  said,  be  no  author  of  schism, 
nor  hold  any  thing  contrary  to  the  holy  mother  the 
Church,  which  was  Christ's  spouse.  Dr.  Weston,  the  pro- 
locutor, liked  this  preamble  of  Cheney's  well,  and  com- 
mended him  highly,  saying,  that  he  was  a  learned  and  a 
sober  man,  and  well  exercised  in  all  good  learning  and  in 
the  doctors  ;  and  finally,  a  man  meet  for  his  knowledge 
to  dispute  that  common  place :  and  bid  them  hear  him. 
Then  Cheney  desired  them  that  were  present  to  pray  two 
words  with  him  unto  God,  and  to  say,  Vincat  Veritas,  i.  e. 
Let  truth  have  the  victory.  And  presently  all  that  were 
present  cried  out,  Vincat  Veritas,  Vincat  Veritas.  Then 
he  began  with  Watson  after  this  sort.  You  said,  that 
Mr.  Haddon  was  unmeet  to  dispute,  because  he  granted 
not  the  natural   and  Real  Presence.     But  I  say  you  are 


CHENEY.  561 

much  more  unmeet  to  answer,  because  you  take  away  the 
substance  of  the  Sacrament.  But  Watson  then  told  him, 
that  he  had  subscribed  to  the  Real  Presence,  and  should  not 
go  away  from  that.  And  after  much  clamour  against  him, 
he  prosecuted  Haddon's  argument,  in  proving  that  ovata, 
was  a  substance  ;  and  added,  that  it  was  a  great  heresy  to 
take  away  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine  after  the  con- 
secration. These  words  I  leave  with  the  reader  :  whereby 
we  may  conclude  him  not  a  Papist,  but  a  Lutheran  rather, 
in  his  opinion  of  the  Eucharist. 

On  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth  he  had  friends 
who  offered  to  procure  him  a  bishopric,  or  a  prebend  at 
Westminster,  but  he  declined,  preferring  to  lead  a  private 
life.  In  1561  we  find,  however,  that  he  was  summoned 
to  preach  at  court,  where  he  seems  to  have  conciliated  the 
esteem  of  Cecil,  not  only  by  his  orthodoxy,  but  by  his 
simplicity  and  good  humour.  Archbishop  Parker  sug- 
gested him  to  Cecil  as  "  a  good,  grave,  priestly  man,"  to 
be  provost  of  Eton,  but  in  this  he  was  not  successful.  It 
seems  that  he  was  also  thought  of  for  the  provostship  of 
Kings  College,  Cambridge. 

Cheney  was  the  representative  of  the  old  English  Re- 
formers, and  was  particularly  opposed  to  the  principles  of 
the  foreign  Reformation,  especially  the  calvinistic  heresies, 
which  the  returned  exiles  were  endeavouring  to  foist  upon 
the  Church  of  England.  This  may  have  rendered  him 
unwilling  to  accept  a  bishopric.  But  the  difficulty,  on  the 
other  hand,  of  finding  fit  persons  for  the  episcopal  office, 
rendered  those  who  looked  to  the  welfare  of  the  church, 
the  more  urgent  upon  him  to  accept  the  unwelcome  post, 
and  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Gloucester  on  the  19th 
of  April,  156*2.  He  had  also  by  Secretary  Cecil's  means 
the  bishopric  of  Bristol,  then  void,  in  commendam. 

The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  issued  out  a  commission 
to  him,  under  the  title  of  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  and  com- 
mendatory of  the  cathedral  church  of  Bristol,  appointing 
him  his  vicar-general,  delegate,  and  commissary  general  in 
3c  2 


56a  CHENEY. 

spirituals,  and  keeper  of  the  spirituality  of  the  city  and 
diocese  of  Bristol :  to  visit  the  church  of  Bristol,  &c.  And 
this  during  the  vacancy  of  the  see.  This  commission  was 
dated  at  Lambeth,  May  3.  But  it  was  not  long  before 
this  commission  was  taken  away  from  him  again  by  the 
Archbishop,  disliking  most  probably  some  of  his  prin- 
ciples and  opinions.  At  which  Bishop  Cheney  took  such 
distaste,  that  he  wrote  to  Sir  William  Cecil  to  release  him 
of  the  bishopric  of  Gloucester.  And  in  September  he 
renewed  his  request,  that  he  might  have  leave  to  resign 
his  office,  considering  the  jurisdiction  of  Bristol  was  taken 
from  him  :  and  such  preaching  in  the  rash  and  ignorant, 
he  said,  was  continued  in  Gloucester  diocese,  as  his  poor 
conscience  could  not  think  to  be  good.  What  this  preach- 
ing was  we  may  guess,  and  but  guess  at,  by  the  remem- 
brance of  a  former  bishop  there ;  namely  Hooper ;  who 
did  not  much  affect  ceremonies,  either  of  habits  or  orna- 
ments of  religion,  nor  allowed  of  any  manner  of  corporeal 
presence  in  the  Sacrament :  which  sentiments  most  pro- 
bably were  by  him  or  his  chaplain  so  diligently  sown  in 
that  diocese,  that  much  of  them  remained  to  this  day ; 
opinions,  by  no  means  liked  by  Bishop  Cheney. 

In  the  convocation  of  1562,  the  Thirty-nine  Articles 
were  adopted  by  the  Church  of  England,  and  Bishop 
Cheney  subscribed  them. 

In  1568  we  find  that  Bishop  Cheney  had  given  great 
offence  to  the  learned  citizens  of  Bristol,  by  his  sermons 
preached  there  in  the  cathedral,  and  particularly  three 
sermons  preached  in  August  and  September  this  year,  in 
vindication  of  himself :  w^hich  some  of  the  preachers  there 
took  the  confidence  to  confute  in  their  pulpits.  And  one 
of  these  that  did  this  was  Dr.  Calf  hill,  in  two  sermons 
preached  in  the  same  cathedral,  the  bishop  present  to 
hear  himself  disproved;  and  one  Norbrook,  a  preacher 
here,  was  another.  And  this  was  not  all,  but  certain 
aldermen  and  other  citizens,  in  a  letter  to  the  lords  of  the 
council,  complained  of  him ;  sending  divers  articles  en- 
closed, of  erroneous  expressions  and  doctrines,  collected 


CHENEY.  5G3 

out  of  those  his  sermons  preached  among  them,  as  they 
had  also  sent  them  to  the  ecclesiastical  commission.  Of 
which  this  is  the  transcript,  says  Strype,  as  1  found  them 
in  the  original  papers. 

I.  "  I  am  come,  good  people,  not  to  recant,  or  call  back 
any  thing  that  I  have  heretofore  said  :  for  I  am  of  that 
mind  now  as  I  was  then,  as  concerning  matters  in  contro- 
versy ;  and  will  be  to  the  end.  If  I  had  one  foot  in  the 
grave,  and  another  upon  the  ground,  I  would  say  then  as 
I  do  now.  And  therefore,  good  people,  I  give  you  that 
counsel  that  I  follow  myself.  Wherefore  be  not  too  swift 
or  hasty  to  credit  these  new  writers,  for  they  are  not 
yet  thoroughly  tried  and  approved,  as  the  catholic  fathers 
are. 

II.  "  These  new  writers  in  matters  of  controversy,  as 
Mr.  Calvin  and  others  agree  not  together,  but  are  at  dis- 
sension among  themselves,  and  are  together  by  the  ears. 
Therefore  take  heed  of  them.  Yet  read  them  :  for  in 
opening  the  text  they  do  pass  many  of  the  old  fathers. 
And  they  are  excellently  weU  learned  in  the  tongues  :  but 
in  matters  now  in  controversy  follow  them  not,  but  follow 
the  old  fathers  and  doctors,  although  Mr.  Calvin  denieth 
some  of  them.  As  for  your  new  doctors,  it  is  good  to  pick 
a  sallet  out  of  them  now  and  then. 

III.  "-Scriptures,  Scriptures,  do  you  cry?  Be  not  too 
hasty :  for  so  the  heretics  always  cried  ;  and  had  the 
Scriptures.  I  would  ask  this  question  :  I  have  to  do  with 
an  heretic ;  I  bring  Scripture  against  him ;  and  he  will 
confess  it  to  be  Scripture.  But  he  will  deny  the  sense 
that  I  bring  it  for.  How  now  ?  how  shall  this  be  tried  ? 
Marry,  by  consent  of  fathers  only,  and  not  by  others. 

IV.  "  In  reading  the  Scriptures,  be  you  like  the  snail ; 
which  is  a  goodly  figure ;  for  when  he  feeleth  a  hard 
thing  against  his  horns,  he  pulleth  them  in  again  ;  so  do 
you  :  read  Scripture  a  God's  name ;  but  when  you  come 
to  matters  of  controversy,  go  back  again :  pull  in  your 
horns. 

V.  "I  never  brought  Free-will  into  the  pulpit.    I  would 


664  CHENEY. 

to  God  it  had  never  been  brought  into  that  place.  Luther 
wrote  a  very  ill  book  against  Free-will ;  wherein  he  did  very 
much  hurt.  But  Erasmus  answered  him  very  learnedly. 
So  that  I  am  not  of  Luther's  opinion  therein,  but  of 
Erasmus's  mind. 

VI.  "  They  which  of  long  time  have  been  exercised  in 
prayer  and  study,  and  are  aged,  cannot  be  easily  ignorant 
or  err,  or  be  deceived,  or  be  without  grace.  Now  these 
young  men,  which  are  of  a  lower  vein,  having  not  the  use 
of  long  prayer  and  study,  be  not  men  perfect,  as  they 
seem  ;  nor  have  such  grace. 

VII.  "  These  matters  now  in  controversy  are  as  it  were 
in  an  equal  pair  of  balances,  and  may  weigh  which  way 
they  shall  as  yet. 

VIII.  "  Let  them  not  say,  as  here  of  late  was  preached, 
that  the  fathers  had  their  faults  ;  which  they  had  indeed  : 
but  let  them  all  bring  me  the  consent  of  fathers  in  these 
matters  now  in  controversy,  or  otherwise  I  shall  not,  nor 
will  yield  to  them,  nor  be  of  their  judgment. 

IX.  "  A  question  may  be  asked  concerning  the  young 
maid  and  Naaman ;  whether  that  a  godly  man  may  be  at 
idol-service  with  his  body,  his  heart  being  with  God,  with- 
out offence  or  sin  ?  I  say,  you  may,  without  offence  or  sin. 
And  because  you  shall  not  think  that  I  am  of  this  opinion 
only,  I  will  bring  you  Peter  Martyr,  a  learned  man,  and 
as  famous  as  ever  was  in  our  time,  being  your  own  doctor : 
who  saith,  a  man  may  be  present  without  offence.  Whose 
very  words  I  will  read  unto  you  ;  which  are  these  :  "  Non 
enim  simpliciter  et  omnibus  modis  interdictum  est  piis 
hominibus,  ne  in  fanis  prsesentes  adsint,  dum  profani  et 
execrandi  ritus  exercentur."  [This  he  seems  to  say,  to 
take  off  an  accusation  laid  against  him  by  some,  that  he 
was  present  at  mass  in  the  last  reign.] 

X.  "  Some  among  you  find  great  fault  with  me,  and  are 
offended,  as  I  perceive,  at  my  preaching;  and  you  do 
murmur,  I  must  out  of  doubt  call  back  something  that  I 
have  preached.  Indeed,  I  said  here,  that  Naaman  gave 
to  Gehazi  ten  thousand  suits  of  apparel,  where  it  was  but 


CHENEY.  565 

two  suits.  That  T  call  back  again.  Another  is,  that  I 
said  in  this  place,  if  any  were  offended  or  grieved  with 
any  thing  I  should  preach,  he  should  come  friendly  to  me, 
and  I  would  reason  with  him.  Among  all,  a  poor  man  of 
late  came  to  me,  being  offended  with  my  preaching,  to 
reason  with  me,  and  I  refused  him.  And  that  I  call 
back.  But  for  any  other  thing  that  I  have  preached,  I 
say  now  as  I  did  then ;  and  so  I  will  do  to  the  end. 

XI.  "  Good  people,  I  must  now  depart  shortly.  Keep 
therefore  this  lesson  with  you.  Believe  not,  neither  follow 
this  city,  nor  yet  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7 ;  but  follow  you  the 
catholic  and  universal  consent.  For  if  you  will  go  but  to 
the  river  of  Rhine  in  Germany,  and  behold  the  cities,  how 
they  differ,  and  are  at  contention  among  themselves,  you 
will  wonder.  At  Helvetia  is  one  religion  ;  at  Wirtemberg 
another ;  at  Strausborough  another ;  and  at  Geneva  is 
another.  So  that  there  were  nefer  so  many  religions  and 
errors  in  any  men's  time,  as  are  now  among  them." 

These  were  the  informations  sent  up  to  the  privy 
council  against  the  Bishop,  together  with  a  letter  signed 
by  two  aldermen,  the  two  sheriffs,  the  chamberlain,  a 
schoolmaster,  and  about  thirty  more.  But  before  they 
were  sent,  the  Bishop,  by  some  of  his  friends  in  Bristol, 
(whereof  he  had  many,)  understanding  the  intention  of 
his  adversaries,  prevented  them  by  despatching  from 
Gloucester  two  letters  to  the  secretary,  who  bare  him  a 
good-will,  because  of  his  learning  and  old  acquaintance. 
To  him  he  related  his  case,  and  the  matters  lately  fallen 
out  between  him  and  some  preachers  in  the  said  city ; 
apologizing  for  the  sermons  he  had  made.  The  substance 
of  what  he  writ  was  as  followeth. 

That  he  had  been  lately  at  Bristol,  and  preached  three 
sermons  there,  which  (as  he  heard)  many  well  liked ; 
but  some  (quibus  nihil  placet  nisi  novum  et  nimium,  as 
Philonius  said)  were  grieved,  and  kept  a  great  stir  in  the 
pulpit.  And  one  Norbrook,  among  others  that  were 
against  him,  (one  more  earnest  than  skilful,)  he  had  gently 
used ;  oftentimes  calling  him  to  his  table,   and  talking 


566  CHENEY. 

with  him  privately.  But  what  he  had  spoke  to  him  in 
private,  he  uttered  to  Dr.  Cawfield,  or  Calfhill :  who  tvrice, 
in  his  own  hearing,  confuted  what  was  brought  to  him,  a 
great  deal  more  than  needed;  using  therein  the  new- 
coined  phrase  oi  free-willers.  The  Bishop  added,  that  he 
could  better  have  liked  that  doctor's  preaching,  if  he,  the 
said  doctor,  had  first  conferred  with  him ;  especially  since 
he  had  not  dealt  ungently  with  him  at  his  first  coming ; 
but  offered  him  to  take  such  as  he  had  every  meal,  so  long 
as  he  could  tariy  in  the  city.  He  offered  him  conference 
also  after  his  first  sermon.  He  bade  him  to  supper  after 
his  second :  but  he  could  not  have  his  company.  And  if 
he  had  come,  he  should  peradventure  have  heard  from 
the  Bishop  somewhat  out  of  the  old  church,  and  con- 
senting orthodox  writers,  that  he  would  not  much  have 
misliked  ;  which  writers  proved  by  the  Scriptures,  that 
which  he  by  other  Scriptures,  not  unknown  to  them,  con- 
futed. And  that  which  he  confuted  was  thought  by  them 
to  be  dogma  ecclesiae  et  veritatis,  i.  e.  a  doctrine  of  the 
Church  and  of  truth ;  and  so,  he  said,  it  was  termed  of 
some.  That  they  saw  great  causes  why  they  so  wrote,  as 
men  of  this  time  wanted  not  theirs.  Whether  sort  ought 
to  be  believed,  however  others  doubted,  he  doubted  not 
at  all. 

What  articles  his  unquiet  and  uncharitable  adversaries 
might  have  gathered  against  him,  and  were  offered,  as 
was  told  him,  to  the  Queen's  council,  he  knew  not,  but 
his  conscience  was  clear ;  and  that  that  poor  learning  he 
had  uttered,  being  indifferently  heard  and  considered,  he 
trusted,  would  not  be  much  misliked.  If  he  were  per- 
suaded that  he  had  preached  any  thing  against  scripture, 
against  the  holy  catholic  church,  against  orthodox  writers 
consenting,  against  the  best  general  councils;  it  should  be 
his  first  deed  that  he  would  do  to  ride  to  Bristol,  (although 
at  present  he  were  not  well  able  to  ride,)  and  there  he 
would  humbly  acknowledge  his  error.  But  if  he  by  Nor- 
brook  and  his  adhereuts  was  falsely  accused,  and  that  he 
was'  able  to  prove  what  he  had  said  by  such  learning  as 


CHENEY.  5C7 

was  before  rehearsed,  Norbrook  should  perceive  he  had  not 
done  well:  who  had  lost  already  a  number  of  his  friends 
through  his  late  misbehaviour. 

That  it  was  well  perceived,  (as  the  bishop  proceeded,) 
and  more  and  more  it  was  spoken  that  young  and  rash 
preachers  did  more  hinder  the  free  course  of  the  Gospel 
than  further  it ;  the  more  was  the  pity.  That  he  was 
counselled  by  some  well  seen  in  the  laws  of  the  realm  to 
commence  an  action  against  Xorbrook  and  his  adherents, 
for  their  too  bad  accusing  him  in  the  pulpit  and  other 
places  ;  but,  he  said,  he  would  end  as  he  had  begun.  The 
accusing  of  any  man  had  not  hitherto  cost  him  twopence 
in  the  law.  That  he  loved  neither  to  sue  nor  to  be  sued, 
although  he  had  in  his  time  met  with  many  crooked 
attempts.  But  if  he  should  prove  his  rash  adversaries  to 
grow  in  malice,  he  would  trouble  his  friends,  which,  he 
thanked  God,  were  many  in  number,  as  he  knew  he  had 
many  enemies,  who  said  that  he  was  an  utter  enemy  to 
the  Gospel  of  Christ.  But  he  said  they  spent  their  wind 
in  vain  that  said  so  ;  and  he  would  that  they  should  think, 
that  as  they  favoured  the  Gospel,  so  did  he. 

That  when  such  as  Norbrook  heard  any  thing  they 
could  not  like,  they  straightway  hawked  at  their  adver- 
saries the  terrible  name  of  the  high  commission.  But, 
said  he,  if  such  busybodies  were  not  punished  they  would 
mar  all.  In  the  mean  time  they  hindered,  and  that  very 
much,  the  Gospel,  which  they  would  be  thought  to 
favour. 

In  fine,  he  trusted  to  have  the  continuance  of  the 
secretary's  accustomed  goodness  towards  him  in  the  way 
of  right.  He  was  threatened  to  lose  whatsoever  he  had 
at  Bristol,  if  his  adversaries  might  have  their  will.  Others 
said  lustily,  that  he  should  be  put  from  all  the  living  that 
he  had.  To  which  he  only  said  mildly.  Fiat  voluntas 
Doynini. 

In  another  letter  he  expressed  to  the  secretary  more 
particularly  what  the  causes  were  of  the  wilful  attempts 
of  his  enemies,  viz  :  Free-will  and  the  Eucharist,  [holding 


568  CHENEY. 

the  Real  Presence.]  Not  that  he  had  given  any  occasion 
in  pulpits  for  them  to  stir  in  these  matters,  more  than  at 
the  length  in  his  third  sermon  at  Bristol,  after  two  ser- 
mons, or  rather  invectives  of  Dr.  Cawfield,  when  he  said 
he  could  better  like  the  judgment  of  Erasmus  than  that 
of  Luther  in  the  controversy  of  Free-will ;  and  withal 
asserting,  that  he  dissented  not  from  the  fathers  of  this 
realm  in  that  article,  when  it  was  offered  him  to  be  sub- 
scribed in  Latin,  [that  is,  in  the  synod  I  suppose,  anno 
156-2.] 

He  observed  to  the  secretary,  how  oddly  and  unrespect- 
fully  he  was  used  by  some  of  his  Bristol  ill-willers ;  that 
at  his  return  to  Gloucester,  one  came  thither,  as  it  was 
thought,  for  the  nonce,  and  in  his  own  church  there 
brake,  as  it  were,  the  ice ;  and  another  followed  him, 
whose  scope  and  chief  mark  was  to  prove  that  there  was 
no  Free-will.  But,  said  the  Bishop,  they  both,  as  also 
Norbrook  and  others,  might  seem  not  to  have  waded  in 
the  old  wTiters  that  consented  in  the  contrary  doctrine ; 
and  that  they  followed  much,  if  not  too  much,  the  learned 
of  this  time,  not  consideiing  what  had  been  thought  and 
determined  in  the  old  time :  that  my  Lord  [Bishop]  of 
Salisbury,  and  others,  being  great  learned  men,  and  well 
treated  in  antiquity,  well  knew  what  had  been  taught  of 
this  matter  in  the  primitive  Church  with  great  consent. 
Their  judgment  he  could  better  like  than  the  irapugners 
of  them  in  this  time.  Upon  this  he  said  further,  that  if 
young  and  hot  heads  should  be  suffered  to  say  what  they 
list  in  matters  of  great  weight,  (as  no  doubt  certain  of 
them  did  very  rashly,  to  the  exceeding  hindrance  of  the 
Gospel,)  there  must  needs  ensue  a  Babylonical  confusion. 

It  was  reported  to  him,  that  the  Earl  of  Bedford  was 
laboured  with  by  Dr.  Humfrey  and  more,  to  bring  those 
and  other  matters  before  the  Queen's  most  honourable 
council.  If  it  were  so,  he  said,  that  he  trusted  the  truth 
would  by  this  occasion  be  better  known  :  and  that  if  he  were 
strong  in  body  or  in  purse,  (as  he  was  not,)  it  should  be 
the  first  deed  that  he  would  do,  to  confer  with  the  learned 


CHEYNELL.  569 

iQ  this  point  of  Free-will.  But  now  being  not  well  able  to 
journey,  he  should  be  very  loath  to  be  drawn  to  London, 
namely,  at  such  men's  suit  and  complaint  as  his  adver- 
saries were.  And  that  if  he  were  not  deceived,  their  chief 
mark  that  they  shot  at  was  not  Free-will,  and  such  like, 
but  rather,  Nolumus  hunc  regnare  super  nos,  i.  e.  we  will 
not  have  this  man  to  reign  over  us.  Which  if  they  should 
bring  to  pass,  they  would,  he  said,  lustily  triumph :  to 
which  he  only  said,  "  God  speed  them  in  their  well- 
doing as  myself." 

Archbishop  Parker  appears  to  have  be^n  prejudiced 
against  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  who  certainly  seems  to 
have  received  some  harsh  treatment  at  the  hands  of  his 
Grace,  being  actually  excommunicated  on  the  '20th  of  April, 
in  the  year  1571,  by  the  Archbishop  himself,  for  not  being 
present  at  the  first  and  second  sessions  of  convocation. 
The  execution  of  this  sentence  was  entrusted  to  the  Arch- 
deacon of  Gloucester,  who,  with  the  royal  pursuivant,  was 
directed  to  publish  it  in  the  cathedral  of  Gloucester.  On 
the  twelfth  of  May  the  sentence  of  excommunication 
against  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  was  withdrawn,  Anthony 
Higgens  appearing  as  proctor  for  the  absent  bishop,  and 
pleading  his  sickness. 

Bishop  Cheney  was  anxious  to  be  liberated  from  his 
responsibilities,  and  to  resign  his  bishopric,  but  he  found 
it  impossible  to  obtain  the  royal  consent,  and  died  Bishop 
of  Gloucester,  respected  and  beloved,  in  1578. — Strype, 
Collier,  and  the  contemporary  Historians. 


CHEYNELL,  FRAJyClS. 

Francis  Cheynell,  a  celebrated  Presbyterian  minister, 
was  bom  at  Oxford,  in  1608.  In  1623  he  became  a 
member  of  that  university ;  and  when  he  had  taken  the 
degree  of  B.A.  he  was,  by  the  interest  of  his  mother,  at 
tliat  time  the  widow  of  Abbot,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  elected 
vol  III.  3d 


570  GHEYNELL. 

probationer  fellow  of  Merton  College  in  1629.  He  soon 
took  orders,  and  officiated  in  Oxford  for  some  time;  but 
in  1640  he  sided  with  the  parliamentarians,  and  became 
an  enemy  to  bishops  and  ecclesiastical  ceremonies  ;  and, 
after  embracing  the  covenant,  he  was  made  one  of  the 
assembly  of  divines,  in  1643. 

In  1643,  when  Archbishop  Laud  was  a  prisoner 
in  the  Tower,  there  was  printed  by  authority  a  book 
of  Cheynell's,  entitled,  The  Pdse,  Growth,  and  Danger 
of  Socinianism.  This  appeared  about  six  years  after 
Chillingworth's  more  famous  work,  called  The  Religion  of 
Protestants  a  Safe  Way  to  Salvation.  In  Gheynell's  book 
the  Archbishop,  Hales  of  Eton,  Ghilling worth,  and  other 
eminent  divines  of  those  times,  were  strongly  charged  with 
Socinianism.  In  1644,  after  Chillingworth's  death,  there 
came  out  another  piece  of  Cheynells,  printed  by  authority, 
and  entitled,  Chillingworthi  Novissima,  or  the  Sickness, 
Heresy,  Death,  and  Burial  of  William  Chillingworth.  To 
this  is  prefixed  an  abusive  dedication  to  Drs.  Bayly, 
Prideaux,  Fell,  &c.,  of  the  university  of  Oxford,  who  had 
given  their  imprimatur  to  Chillingworth's  book.  After  the 
dedication  follows  the  narration  itself,  in  which  Cheynell 
relates  how  he  became  acquainted  with  "  this  man  of 
reason,"  as  he  calls  Chillingworth  ;  what  care  he  took  of 
him,  and  how,  as  his  illness  increased,  "  they  remembered 
him  in  their  prayers,  and  prayed  heartily  that  God  would 
give  him  new  light  and  new  eyes,  that  he  might  see,  and 
acknowledge,  and  recant  his  error;  that  he  might  deny 
his  carnal  reason,  and  submit  to  faith."  Chillingworth  at 
length  died ;  and  Cheynell,  though  he  refused,  as  he  tells 
us,  to  bury  his  body,  yet  conceived  it  very  fitting  to  bury 
his  book.  For  this  purpose  he  met  Chiillingworth's 
friends  at  the  grave,  with  his  book  in  his  hand ;  and  after 
a  short  preamble  to  the  people,  in  which  he  assured  them 
*'  how  happy  it  would  be  for  the  kingdom,  if  this  book, 
and  all  its  fellows,  could  be  so  buried  that  they  might 
never  rise   moi"e,  unless   it  w^ere   for  a  confutation."  he 


CHEYNELL.  571 

exclaimed,  "  Get  thee  gone,  thou  cursed  book,  which  hast 
seduced  so  many  precious  souls  ;  get  thee  gone,  thou  cor- 
rupt rotten  book,  earth  to  earth,  and  dust  to  dust;  get 
thee  gone  into  the  place  of  rottenness,  that  thou  may  est 
rot  with  thy  author,  and  see  corruption." 

In  164<5,  when  Oxford  was  taken  by  the  forces  of  the 
parliament,  and  the  reformation  of  the  university  was 
resolved,  Mr.  Cheynell  was  sent,  with  six  others,  to  prepare 
the  way  for  a  visitation ;  being  authorized  by  the  parlia- 
ment to  preach  in  any  of  the  churches,  without  regard  to 
the  right  of  the  members  of  the  university,  that  their 
doctrine  might  prepare  their  hearers  for  the  changes 
which  were  intended. 

When  they  arrived  at  Oxford,  they  began  to  execute 
their  commission,  by  possessing  themselves  of  the  pulpits ; 
but,  if  the  relation  of  Wood  is  to  be  regarded,  were  heard 
with  very  little  veneration.  Those  who  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  the  preachers  of  Oxford,  and  the  liturgy  of  the 
Church  of  England,  were  offended  at  the  emptiness  of 
their  discourses,  which  were  noisy  and  unmeaning ;  at  the 
unusual  gestures,  the  wild  distortions,  and  the  uncouth 
tone  with  which  they  were  delivered;  at  the  coldness  of 
their  prayers  for  the  King,  and  the  vehemence  and  ex- 
uberance of  those  which  they  did  not  fail  to  utter  for  the 
blessed  councils  and  actions  of  the  parliament  and  army ; 
and  at,  what  was  surely  not  to  be  remarked  without  indig- 
nation, their  omission  of  the  Lord's  prayer. 

But  power  easily  supplied  the  want  of  reverence,  and 
they  proceeded  in  their  plan  of  reformation ;  and  thinking 
sermons  not  so  efficacious  to  conversion  as  private  interro- 
gatories and  exhortations,  they  established  a  weekly  meet- 
ing for  freeing  tender  consciences  from  scruple,  at  a  house, 
that,  from  the  business  to  which  it  was  appropriated,  was 
called  the  Scrnple-shojJ. 

With  this  project  they  w'ere  so  well  pleased,  that  they 
sent  to  the  parliament  an  account  of  it,  which  was  after- 
wards printed,  and  is  ascribed  by  Wood  to  Mr.  Cheynell. 
They  continued  for  some  weeks  to  hold  their  meetings 


573  CHEYNELL. 

regularly,  and  to  admit  great  numbers,  whom  curiosity,  or 
a  desire  of  conviction,  or  compliance  with  the  prevailing 
party,  brought  thither.  But  their  tranquillity  was  quickly 
disturbed  by  the  turbulence  of  the  Independents,  whose 
opinions  then  prevailed  among  the  soldiers,  and  were  very 
industriously  propagated  by  the  discourses  of  William 
Earbury,  a  preacher  of  great  reputation  among  them,  who 
one  day  gathering  a  considerable  number  of  his  most 
zealous  followers,  went  to  the  house  appointed  for  the 
resolution  of  scruples,  on  a  day  which  was  set  apart  for  a 
disquisition  of  the  dignity  and  office  of  a  minister,  and 
began  to  dispute  with  great  vehemence  against  the  Pres- 
byterians, whom  he  denied  to  have  any  true  ministers 
among  them,  and  whose  assemblies  he  affirmed  not  to  be 
the  true  Church.  He  was  opposed  with  equal  heat  by  the 
Presbyterians,  and  at  length  they  agreed  to  examine  the 
point  another  day,  in  a  regular  disputation.  Accordingly 
they  appointed  the  12th  of  November  for  an  enquiry, 
"  whether,  in  the  Christian  church,  the  office  of  minister 
is  committed  to  any  particular  persons  ?" 

On  the  day  fixed,  the  antagonists  appeared  each  attend- 
ed by  great  numbers  ;  but  when  the  question  was  pro- 
posed, they  began  to  wrangle,  not  about  the  doctrine  which 
they  had  engaged  to  examine,  but  about  the  terms  of  the 
proposition,  which  the  Independents  alleged  to  be  changed 
since  their  agreement ;  and  at  length  the  soldiers  insisted 
that  the  question  should  be,  "  Whether  those  who  call 
themselves  ministers  have  more  right  or  power  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  than  any  other  man  that  is  a  Christian?'* 
This  question  w^as  debated  for  some  time  with  great 
vehemence  and  confusion,  but  without  any  prospect  of  a 
conclusion.  At  length,  one  of  the  soldiers,  who  thought 
they  had  an  equal  right  with  the  rest  to  engage  in  the 
controversy,  demanded  of  the  Presbyterians  whence  they 
themselves  received  their  orders,  whether  from  bishops  or 
any  other  persons  ?  This  unexpected  interrogatory  put 
them  to  great  difficulties  ;  for  it  happened  that  they  were 
all  ordained  by  the  bishops,  which  they  durst  not  acknow- 


CHEYXELL.  573 

ledge,  for  fear  of  exposing  themselves  to  a  general  censure, 
and  being  convicted  from  their  own  declarations,  in  which 
they  had  frequently  condemned  episcopacy  as  contrary  to 
Christianity;  nor  durst  they  deny  it,  because  they  might 
have  been  confuted,  and  must  at  once  have  sunk  into  con- 
tempt. The  soldiers  seeing  their  perplexity,  insulted 
them ;  and  went  away  boasting  of  their  victory :  nor  did 
the  Presbyterians,  for  some  time,  recover  spirit  enough  to 
renew  their  meetings,  or  to  proceed  in  the  work  of  easing 
consciences. 

Mr.  Cheynell  published  an  account  of  this  dispute 
under  the  title  of  "  Faith  triumphing  over  Error  and 
Heresy  in  a  Revelation,"  &c. ;  nor  can  it  be  doubted  but 
he  had  the  victory,  where  his  cause  gave  him  so  great 
superiority. 

Somewhat  before  this  his  captious  and  petulant  dispo- 
sition engaged  him  in  a  controversy,  from  which  he  could 
not  expect  to  gain  equal  reputation.  Dr.  Hammond  had 
not  long  before  published  his  Practical  Catechism,  in  which 
Mr.  Cheynell,  according  to  his  custom,  found  many  errors 
implied,  if  not  asserted ;  and  therefore,  as  it  was  much 
read,  thought  it  convenient  to  censure  it  in  the  pulpit. 
Of  this  Dr.  Hammond  being  informed,  desired  him  in  a 
letter  to  communicate  his  objections  ;  to  which  Mr.  Chey- 
nell returned  an  answer,  written  with  his  usual  temper, 
and  therefore  somewhat  perverse.  The  controversy  was 
drawn  out  to  a  considerable  length  ;  and  the  papers  on 
both  sides  were  afterwards  made  public  by  Dr.  Hammond. 

In  1647  it  was  determined  by  parliament  that  the 
reformation  of  Oxford  should  be  more  vigorously  carried 
on ;  and  Mr.  Cheynell  was  nominated  one  of  the  visitors. 
The  general  process  of  the  visitation,  the  firmness  and 
fidelity  of  the  students,  the  address  by  which  the  enquiry 
was  delayed,  and  the  steadiness  with  which  it  was  oppos- 
ed, which  are  very  particularly  related  by  Wood,  and  after 
him  by  Walker,  it  is  not  necessary  to  mention  here,  as 
they  relate  not  more  to  Dr.  Cheynell's  life  than  to  those  of 
his  associates. 

3d    2 


674  CHEYNELL. 

There  is,  indeed,  some  reason  to  believe  that  he  was 
more  active  and  virulent  than  the  rest,  because  he  appears 
to  have  been  charged  in  a  particular  manner  with  some 
of  their  most  unjustifiable  measures.  He  was  accused 
of  proposing,  that  the  members  of  the  university  should 
be  denied  the  assistance  of  counsel,  and  was  lampooned 
by  name,  as  a  madman,  in  a  satire  written  on  the 
visitation. 

One  action,  which  shews  the  violence  of  his  temper, 
and  his  disregard  both  of  humanity  and  decency,  when 
they  came  in  competition  with  his  passions,  must  not  be 
forgotten.     The  visitors,  being  offended  at  the  firmness 
of  Dr.  Fell,  dean  of  Christ  Church,  and  vice-chancellor  of 
the  university,    having   first  deprived  him   of  his   vice- 
chancellorship,  determined  afterwards  to  dispossess  him  of 
his  deanery ;  and,   in  the  course   of  their   proceedings, 
thought  it  proper  to  seize  upon  his  chambers  in  the  col- 
lege.    This  was  an  act  which  most  men  would  willingly 
have  referred  to  the  officers  to  whom  the  law  assigned  it ; 
but  Cheynell's  fury  prompted  him  to  a  different  conduct. 
He,  and  three  more  of  the  visitors,  went  and  demanded 
admission  ;  which,   being  steadily  refused  them,  they  ob- 
tained it  by  the  assistance  of  a  file  of  soldiers,  who  forced 
the    doors    with    pick-axes.     Then    entering,    they    saw 
Mrs.  Fell  in  the  lodgings,   Dr.  Fell  being  in  prison  at 
London,   and   ordered  her  to  quit  them ;  but  found  her 
not  more  obsequious  than  her  husband.     They  repeated 
their  orders  and  menaces,  but  were  not  able  to  prevail 
upon  her  to  remove.     They  then  retired,  and  left  her  ex- 
posed to  the  brutality  of  the  soldiers,  whom  they  com- 
manded to  keep  possession ;  which  Mrs.  Fell  however  did 
not  leave.      About   nine   days    afterwards   she   received 
another  visit  of  the  same  kind  from  the  new  chancellor, 
the   Earl  of  Pembroke ;    who   having,   like   the   others, 
ordered  her  to  depart  without   effect,  treated   her   with 
reproachful  language,  and  at  last  commanded  the  soldiers 
to  take  her  up  in  her  chair,  and  carry  her  out  of  doors. 
Her  daughters,   and  some  other  gentlewomen  that  were 


CHICHELE.  575 

with  her,  were  afterwards  treated  in  the  same  manner ; 
one  of  whom  predicted,  without  dejection,  that  she  should 
enter  the  house  again  with  less  difficulty,  at  some  other 
time  ;  nor  was  she  mistaken  in  her  conjecture,  for 
Dr.  Fell  lived  to  be  restored  to  his  deanery. 

At  the  reception  of  the  chancellor,  Cheynell,  as  the  most 
accomplished  of  the  visitors,  had  the  province  of  present- 
ing him  with  the  ensigns  of  his  office,  some  of  which  were 
counterfeit,  and  addressing  him  with  a  proper  oration. 

In  1648  he  took  possession  by  force  of  the  Margaret 
professorship  of  that  university,  and  of  the  presidentship 
of  St.  John's  College ;  but  he  was  obliged  to  retire  to  the 
rectory  of  Petworth,  in  Sussex,  to  which  he  had  been  pre- 
sented about  1650,  where  he  continued  till  the  Restora- 
tion He  published  several  works ;  but  he  is  now  chiefly 
memorable  for  his  harsh  treatment  of  Chillingworth,  and 
controversy  with  Hammond. 

"  There  is  always,"  says  Dr.  Johnson,  "this  advantage 
in  contending  with  illustrious  adversaries,  that  the  com- 
batant is  equally  immortalized  by  conquest  or  defeat. 
He  that  dies  by  the  sword  of  a  hero  will  always  be 
mentioned  when  the  acts  of  his  enemy  are  mentioned." 
Cheynell  died  in  1665. — Wood.    Calamy.    Dr.  Johnson. 


CHICHELE,   HENRY. 

Henry  Chichele  was  born  at  High  am  Ferrars,  in 
Northamptonshire,  and  so  distinguished  himself  in  his 
youth,  that  he  was  made  fellow  of  New  College,  by  its 
illustrious  founder  William  of  Wykeham,  at  that  time 
Bishop  of  Winchester.  He  quitted  the  university  at  the 
instance  of  Robert  Medeford,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  who 
received  him  into  his  family,  and  admitted  him  to  his 
friendship,  conferring  upon  him  in  1402,  or  1403,  as  his 
first  preferment,  the  ^Archdeaconry  of  Salisbury,  which  he 
exchanged  in  ]  404,  for  the  chancellorship  of  that  diocese 


576  CHICHELE. 

with  the  bishop  s  brother.  He  received  at  the  same  time 
the  living  of  Odyham,  in  the  diocese  of  Winchester,  that 
hving  being  annexed  to  the  chancellorship.  He  must 
have  had  opportunities  of  making  known  his  talents 
during  his  residence  with  the  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  as  he 
attracted  the  notice  of  Henry  IV.  who  afterwards  employed 
him  in  many  negotiations.  He  was  sent  by  the  King  on  an 
extraordinary  embassy  to  Pope  Gregory  XII.  While  he 
was  with  the  pope,  the  news  arrived  of  the  death  of 
the  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  and  the  pope,  usurping  powers 
which  did  not  belong  to  him,  but  knowing  that  in  this 
instance  they  would  not  be  disputed,  appointed  Chichele 
to  the  vacant  see,  and  consecrated  him  on  the  4th  of 
October,  1407.  He  returned  to  England  the  year  follow- 
ing ;  but  in  1409,  he  was  nominated  by  the  bishops  and 
prelates  of  the  province  of  Canterbury  assembled  in  convo- 
cation, as  one  of  the  delegates  to  represent  the  English 
nation  at  the  council  of  Pisa,  which  was  summoned  to 
compose  the  differences  betwen  the  rival  popes,  Gregory 
XII.,  and  Benedict  XIII.,  and  to  reform  the  Church. 

Having  passed  through  France,  the  delegates  made  a 
splendid  entry  into  Pisa  on  the  27th  of  April,  where  they 
found  assenabled  in  the  council,  one  hundred  and  forty- 
Archbishops  and  Bishops,  besides  abbots  and  others  of  the 
clergy  who  were  there  in  great  numbers.  The  Bishop  of 
Salisbury,  as  superior  in  dignity  to  the  other  delegates,  in 
an  eloquent  oration  exhorted  them  in  the  name  of  the 
King  his  master,  to  establish  a  peace,  and  compose  those 
divisions  in  the  Church,  which  was  earnestly  recommend- 
ed to  them  by  the  ambassadors  from  the  other  princes, 
French,  Spaniards,  Scots,  Portuguese,  Hungarians, 
Danes,  Swedes  and  Poles.  Upon  which  the  Fiscal  having 
laid  before  the  council  the  crimes  of  the  two  popes, 
Gregory  and  Benedict,  and  praying  that  the  examination 
of  them  might  be  referred  to  some  persons  deputed  with 
full  power  of  enquiring  into  them,  they  were  both  con- 
victed by  the  testimony  of  witnesses,  and  by  other  proofs, 


CHICHELE.  577 

and  weie  pronounced  by  the  council,  perjured  schismatics, 
heretics,  and  divested  of  the  papacy ;  and  on  the  7th  of 
July  the  cardinals  by  a  power  delegated  to  them  from  the 
council,  elected  Peter  Philardus,  who  was  called  Alexander 
the  Fifth. 

This  Alexander  was  by  birth  a  Cretan,  but  it  is  not 
certainly  known  who  his  father  was.  When  he  was  a  boy 
lie  was  taken  up  by  a  certain  Franciscan  friar,  as  he  was 
begging  from  door  to  door,  who  perceiving  good  parts  in 
him,  admitted  him  into  his  order,  and  instructed  him  in 
grammar  and  logic  whilst  he  was  in  Italy  ;  from  thence 
he  sent  him  to  Oxford,  where  applying  himself  to  the  studies 
of  philosophy  and  divinity,  he  attained  to  a  very  great 
perfection  in  both  those  sciences,  as  he  shewed  afterwards 
in  his  lectures  at  Paris,  and  his  close  and  subtle  com- 
mentaries upon  the  Books  of  Sentences.  After  that,  by 
the  interest  of  John  Galeatiusr  Duke  of  Milan,  he  was 
made  Archbishop  of  that  place ;  then  he  was  created 
cardinal  by  Innocent  the  Seventh,  and  now  at  last  he  was 
made  pope  :  he  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  integrity, 
but  having  been  wholly  addicted  to  study,  and  confined  to 
a  monastic  life,  he  was  generally  esteemed  unfit  for  the 
administration  of  public  affairs.  He  enjoyed  not  the  see 
of  Rome  either  long  or  peaceably  ;  for  the  next  year  going 
from  Pisa  to  Bologna  on  the  first  of  May,  in  the  tenth 
month  of  his  pontificate,  he  was  poisoned,  as  it  is 
believed,  and  Balthasar  Cossa,  whom  he  had  made  legate 
of  Bologna,  a  man  of  a  fierce  disposition,  and  fitter  for  the 
soldiery  than  the  priesthood,  was  chosen  pope  by  the 
college  of  cardinals,  partly  through  fear  of  the  soldiers 
that  he  kept  in  garrison  in  the  city,  and  partly  by  bribing 
the  poor  cardinals  that  were  lately  promoted  by  Gregory, 
and  took  the  name  of  John  XXIII. 

Now  while  Alexander  was  Pope  at  Pisa  and  Bologna, 
Gregory  assumed  that  title  at  Ariminum,  and  Benedict  at 
Panischola,  a  city  of  Arragon,  so  that  three  popes  sat  at 
one  time  in  St.  Peter "s  chair  which  could  hardly  contain 
the  pride  of  one,  and  by  the  just  judgment  of  God  their 


578  CHICHELE. 

vanity  was  made  manifest,  who  would  have  the  holy  flock 
of  Christ  and  the  faith  of  all  Christians  to  depend  upon  a 
perpetual  succession  of  popes  in  that  see. 

In  1410  Bishop  Chichele  returned  to  England,  and 
spent  his  time  in  the  zealous  discharge  of  his  episcopal 
duties,  although  summoned  by  the  Archbishop  to  two 
synods  in  London,  and  employed  by  Henry  IV.  in  public 
affairs.  The  royal  confidence  which  he  enjoyed  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  IV.  was  continued  to  the  Bishop  of 
St.  Davids  by  Henry  V.,  who  sent  him  on  embassies,  first 
to  the  King  of  France,  and  then  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy. 
In  1413  to  the  former,  in  order  to  conclude  a  truce  for  one 
year,  and  to  the  latter  to  negotiate  a  marriage  between 
King  Henry  and  the  Duke's  daughter.  The  latter 
negotiation,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  failed. 

In  1414  the  see  of  Canterbury  became  vacant  by  the 
death  of  Archbishop  Arundel,  when  John  Wodneburgh, 
prior  of  Canterbury,  and  the  monks  of  that  church, 
desired  leave  of  the  King  to  elect  a  new  Archbishop, 
which  was  a  prerogative  that  the  Kings  of  England  had 
challenged  to  themselves  since  the  time  of  Edward  the 
Third,  who  took  it  away  from  the  Pope,  and  constituted 
Bishops  by  his  own  authority,  which  practice  Panormitanus 
affirmed  to  be  agreeable  to  the  constitutions  of  the  canon 
law. 

When  they  had  obtained  leave  of  the  King  by  a  grant 
under  the  great  seal,  they  first  called  home  the  absent 
monks,  and  celebrated  the  funeral  of  Thomas  Arundel,  in 
Christ's  Church  in  Canterbury,  and  on  the  4th  of  May 
they  all  assembled  in  the  Chapter-house,  where  after 
solemn  service,  and  a  sermon,  in  which  they  were  all 
admonished  of  their  duty  out  of  the  holy  Scriptures  in  a 
matter  of  so  great  importance,  and  having  also  caused  the 
King's  grant  to  be  read,  Henry,  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  was 
immediately  demanded  by  all  their  voices,  which  demand 
was  declared  by  John  Langdon  one  of  the  monks,  in  the 
name  of  the  rest,  to  the  people  who  were  assembled  in  the 
church  in  great  numbers  expecting  the  election  of  a  new 


CHICHELE.  579 

Archbishop,  Now  he  could  not  be  elected  to  the  arch- 
bishopric, but  must  only  be  demanded,  according  to  the 
rules  of  the  canon  law,  in  which  a  Bishop  is  said  to 
contract  marriage  with  his 'church,  and  cannot  part  from 
it  without  the  Pope's  leave ;  so  that  a  Bishop  being 
engaged  to  his  see,  is  not  elected  to  another,  but  is 
demanded,  and  is  said  not  to  be  promoted  to  a  second 
bishopric,  but  translated  from  the  first ;  all  which  was 
introduced  by  the  ambition  of  the  Popes,  who  by  this 
device  got  the  disposal  of  most  of  the  bishoprics  in 
Christendom  into  their  own  hands. 

The  same  day  two  of  the  monks  of  that  society,  William 
Molesh  and  John  Moland,  were  appointed  proxies  for  the 
rest,  who  on  the  15th  of  March  waited  upon  the  Bishop 
at  London,  and  acquainted  him  with  the  desires  of  the 
prior  and  monks,  humbly  entreating  him  in  their  name  to 
take  upon  him  the  government'  of  the  church  of  Canter- 
bury, At  that  time  he  answered  only,  that  for  the  present 
he  could  determine  nothing  positively  in  a  matter  of  so 
great  concent,  but  desired  a  day's  time  to  consider  of  it. 
The  next  day,  when  they  came  to  him  again  in  the  Bishop 
of  Norwich's  house,  in  the  presence  of  Edward  Duke  of 
York,  and  several  other  persons  of  the  greatest  quality,  he 
told  them  in  express  words,  that  he  could  not  gratify  their 
desiree,  because  it  was  not  lawful  for  him  to  lay  down  his 
bishopric  of  St.  David's  without  leave  from  the  Pope; 
however,  that  he  was  not  wholly  averse  from  accepting 
their  offer,  if  the  Pope  would  consent  to  it,  and  therefore 
he  referred  their  petition  to  his  arbitrement.  Whereupon 
the  prior  and  monks  by  their  proxies  sent  to  Ptome, 
humbly  requested  of  Pope  John  XXIIL,  that  he  would 
confirm  their  petition  of  Henry,  Bishop  of  St.  Davids,  to 
the  vacant  see  of  Canterbury  ;  and  at  the  same  time  King 
Hemy  signified  by  letters  to  the  Pope,  that  he  had 
granted  leave  to  the  prior  and  monks  of  Canterbury  to 
elect  an  Archbishop,  that  upon  their  request  of  the  Bishop 
of  St.  David's,  he  had  given  his  assent  to  their  petition, 
that  the  Bishop  was  a  person  of  eminent  note,  and  had 


680  CHICHELE. 

deserved  this  dignity  by  his  virtue,  and  that  nothing  now 
remained,  but  that  he  would  do  his  part  in  this  affair. 

The  merits  of  the  Bishop  were  well  enough  known 
to  the  Pope,  first  in  the  Court  of  Gregory  XII.,  with 
whom  he  sided  when  he  was  cardinal,  and  after  that  in 
the  council  of  Pisa,  where  he  was  also  present;  so  that 
the  proctors  for  the  chapter  of  Canterbury  soon  obtained 
of  the  Pope,  who  was  then  at  Bologna,  on  the  27th  of 
April,  that  by  his  bull  he  would  absolve  the  Bishop  from 
the  bond  by  which  he  was  tied  to  the  church  of  St.  David  s, 
and  translate  him  to  the  see  of  Canterbury ;  in  which, 
notwithstanding  he  did  not  confirm  the  demand  of  the 
monks,  but  promoted  him  to  the  archbishopric  by  way  of 
provisor,  that  so  he  might  not  depart  from  the  received 
custom  of  the  Popes  in  assuming  to  themselves  a  right  of 
donation  of  bishoprics  and  livings ;  he  added  moreover 
this  restriction,  that  he  should  not  enter  upon  the  exercise 
of  his  archiepiscopal  function  till  he  had  taken  an  oath  of 
fidelity  to  him  and  the  Church  of  Rome,  before  the 
Bishops  of  Winchester  and  Norwich,  and  lastly,  by  several 
bulls  sent  to  the  prior  and  monks  of  Canterbury,  to  the 
Bishops  of  that  province,  to  the  prelates  and  vassals  of 
the  Church,  and  to  all  the  people,  he  commanded  them 
to  obey  Henry,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  to  pay  him 
all  the  reverence,  honour,  obedience,  and  other  services 
due  to  his  function. 

The  reader  will  see  from  the  account  of  this  translation, 
taken  from  Duck,  the  biographer  of  Chichele,  how  craftily 
the  Popes  of  Rome  obtained  power  over  the  once  indepen- 
dent Church  of  England,  now  again  happily  restored  to 
freedom.  But  though  the  King  weakly  permitted  the  laws 
of  the  land  to  be  violated  so  far,  still  the  Archbishop 
could  not  receive  the  revenues  of  the  Church  without  the 
King's  permission ;  therefore  he  went  to  the  King  at 
Leicester,  where  he  was  put  in  possession  of  them  on  the 
30th  of  May,  after  he  had  sworn  allegiance  to  the  King, 
and  had  expressly  renounced  all  those  clauses  in  the 
popes  bull  for  his  translation  which  might  prejudice  the 


CHICHELE.  681 

King,  or  derogate  from  his  royal  prerogative  ;  after  which 
the  whole  revenue  of  the  archbishopric,  which  upon  the 
death  of  Thomas  Arundel  fell  to  the  exchequer,  was  by  a 
particular  favour  gi-anted  him  by  a  patent  under  the  Great 
Seal,  after  he  had  paid  600  marks. 

One  of  the  first  proceedings  of  the  new  Archbishop  was 
an  act  of  policy  for  which  he  was  afterwards  penitent ;  All 
Souls  College,  Oxford,  still  standing  to  attest  the  sin- 
cerity of  his  repentance,  as  he  erected  that  college  to  be  a 
compensation  to  mankind  for  the  injury  he  had  done 
in  exciting  Henry  V.  to  make  war  upon  France.  The 
Archbishop  was  of  opinion,  that  the  restless  disposition  of 
the  King  ought  to  be  employed  in  some  difficult  enter- 
prize  ;  and  that  the  only  way  to  keep  him^  from  making 
disturbances  at  home,  was  to  show  him  an  enemy  abroad. 
Shakspeare  has  availed  himself  with  his  usual  power  of 
this  circumstance  in  the  Arclibishop's  history,  and  the 
speech  he  puts  into  the  Archbishop's  mouth  in  his  play  of 
Henry  V.  is  in  substance  what  his  grace  delivered  in  the 
house  of  lords,  the  King  being  seated  on  his  throne. 
Such  was  the  effect  of  his  eloquence,  that  when  it  came  to 
the  vote,  instead  of  voting  in  the  usual  manner,  the  peers 
cried  out  confusedly  War,  war  with  France. 

/ 

The  mitred  Sire 
Thus  spake, — and  lo  !  a  fleet,  for  Gaul  addrest. 
Ploughs  her  hold  course  across  the  wondering  seasj 
For,  sooth  to  say,  amhition  in  the  breast 
Of  youthful  Heroes,  is  no  sullen  fire. 
But  one  that  leaps  to  meet  the  fanning  breeze. 

Wordsworth. 

Whilst  the  King  was  in  France  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  ordered  all  the  clergy  of  his  diocese  to  be  in 
arms,  lest  the  French  should  in  the  King's  absence  make 
any  descent  upon  the  coast  of  Kent;  after  this  he  ap- 
pointed a  synod  of  his  province  to  be  held  in  London,  on 
the   Q8th  of  November,   1415.      The   first   day  of  their 

VOL.  Til  3e 


58'^'  CHICHELE. 

meeting  was  taken  up  in  religious  solemnities  :  for  after 
the  administration  of  the  Eucharist,  which  was  celebrated 
in  the  morning  by  the  Archbishop  on  the  high  altar  in 
St.  Paul's,  William  Lyndewood,  chancellor  of  Canterbury, 
preached  before  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy  (which  was 
assembled  in  St.  Mary's  Chapel  in  that  cathedral)  upon 
these  words  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  (cap.  6.  v.  16)  Stand 
ye  in  the  ways  and  see.  The  following  days  the  bishops 
and  abbots  met  in  St.  Mary's  Chapel,  and  the  priors, 
deans,  archdeacons,  and  proctors  of  the  several  dioceses 
withdrew  into  the  chapter-house,  where  they  consulted 
separately  about  the  affairs  of  the  Church,  from  whence 
they  are  generally  called  the  upper  and  lower  house  of 
convocation. 

In  this  synod  two  tenths  were  granted  to  the  King  for 
the  war  with  France  out  of  all  ecclesiastical  revenues  and 
benefices  that  used  to  pay  tenths,  one  of  them  to  be  paid 
at  St.  Martin's  day  next  following,  and  the  other  on  tlie 
same  day  the  next  year.  On  the  2nd  of  December  the 
Archbishop  dissolved  the  synod  ;  after  that,  at  the'  King's 
desire,  and  with  the  consent  of  both  houses,  he  had 
appointed  the  days  of  St.  George,  St.  David,  St.  Chad, 
and  St.  Winifred,  to  be  observed  as  holidays.  This  decree 
is  still  to  be  seen  amongst  the  English  constitutions. 

The  next  year  he  held  another  synod  at  London  on  the 
first  of  April,  to  consult  with  the  bishops  and  other 
prelates  about  sending  delegates  to  the  council  at  Con- 
stance. For  Christendom  was  still  divided  between  three 
popes,  John  the  XXIIIrd,  who  exercised  the  pontifical 
function  at  Rome,  Gregory  the  Xllth  at  Ariminum,  and 
Benedict  the  Xlllth  at  Avignon.  For  both  Gregory  and 
Benedict  had  refused  to  submit  to  the  sentence  pro- 
nounced against  them  by  the  Council  of  Pisa.  But  John 
being  solicited  by  all  the  Christian  princes  to  put  an  end 
to  the  schism,  had  two  years  before  this  appointed  a 
council  to  be  held  at  Constance  in  Germany,  though  it 
was  with  great  reluctance,  fearing  that  the  council  would 


CHICHELE.  583 

deprive  him  of  the  papacy,  which  afterwards  happened,  as 
we  shall  hereafter  shew. 

The  Archbishop  being  cited  to  Constance,  had  sent 
thither  two  years  ago  as  his  proxies,  Robert  Apulton, 
canon  of  York,  and  John  Forst,  canon  of  Lincoln,  to 
assist  in  his  name  at  the  council ;  and  at  the  same  time 
the  Earl  of  Warwick,  the  Bishops  of  Salisbury,  Bath,  and 
Hereford,  with  the  Abbot  of  Westminster,  and  the  Prior 
of  Worcester,  were  sent  thither  also  as  delegates  from  the 
King,  and  the  body  of  the  clergy,  whose  number  being 
diminished  by  the  death  of  Egbert  Hallum,  Bishop  of 
Salisbury,  and  Robert  Mascal,  Bishop  of  Hereford,  who 
died  at  Constance ;  and  because  the  deputies  of  other 
nations  appeared  at  the  council  in  greater  numbers, 
therefore  in  this  synod,  Richard  Clifford,  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don, and  twelve  doctors,  together  with  the  chancellors  of 
the  universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  were  chosen 
for  this  employment,  and  twopence  in  the  pound  out  of 
the  livings  and  revenues  of  the  clergy  was  allowed  them 
for  their  expenses. 

In .  this  synod  or  convocation  it  was  enacted  that  all 
bishops  of  the  province  and  their  archdeacons,  should,  by 
themselves  or  by  their  officials,  diligently  twice  a  year  at 
least,  make  inquiry  in  every  rural  deanery  after  persons 
suspected  of  heresy,  and  cause  three  or  more  men  of  good 
report,  in  every  deanery  or  parish,  where  heretics  were 
supposed  to  dwell,  to  swear  to  give  information  of  any 
heretics  keeping  private  conventicles,  or  differing  in  their 
life  and  manners  from  the  generality  of  the  faithful,  or 
having  suspected  books  written  in  the  vulgar  tongue ; 
orders  archdeacons,  commissaries,  and  diocesans,  respeo- 
tively  to  take  steps  against  persons  so  accused ;  and 
directs  that  persons  found  guilty,  but  not  handed  over  to 
the  secular  court  [to  be  burnt]  should  be  committed  to 
perpetual  or  temporary  imprisonment. 

This  constitution  was  published  by  the  Archbishop, 
July  1st,  1416. 


584  CHICHELE. 

Another  constitution  was  made  in  this  convocation, 
regulating  the  probate  of  wills  and  administration. 

After  the  breaking  up  of  the  synod  the  Archbishop 
went  for  a  short  time  to  France,  where  he  did  not,  how- 
ever, remain  long,  but  returning  to  England  with  the 
King,  at  his  majesty's  command  he  called  a  synod  or 
convocation  in  London  on  the  9th  of  November,  in  which, 
at  the  request  of  Henry  Beaufort,  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
the  Earl  Marshal,  and  Henry  Ware,  (who  from  chancellor 
of  Canterbury  had  some  time  before  been  made  keeper  of 
the  privy  seal)  who  for  that  purpose  were  sent  thither  by 
the  King,  he  prevailed  with  them  to  grant  the  King 
two  tenths  for  his  expedition  into  France.  There  was 
nothing  else  done  in  that  synod,  but  the  days  of  John  of 
Beverley,  and  of  Crispin  and  Crispinian,  martyrs,  on 
which  the  battle  of  Agincourt  was  fought,  were  made 
holidays. 

In  1417  an  event  took  place  which  shewed  the  justice 
and  determination  for  which  the  Archbishop  was  cele- 
brated :  on  Easter-day  the  Lord  Strange  and  the  Lady 
Elizabeth,  his  wife,  and  a  great  train  of  servants  attending 
them,  coming  to  St.  Dunstan's  Church  to  vespers,  and 
meeting  Sir  John  Trussel  there,  with  whom  he  had  an 
ancient  quarrel,  his  servants  drew  their  swords  in  the 
church,  wounded  Sir  John,  his  son,  and  some  others  of 
his  family,  and  killed  one  Thomas  Petwaray,  a  citizen  of 
London,  who  to  accommodate  the  matter  between  them, 
had  thrust  himself  into  the  scuffle.  The  matter  being 
brought  before  the  Archbishop,  he  interdicted  the  church, 
which  had  been  polluted  with  blood,  the  authors  and 
accomplices  of  the  crime  were  publicly  excommunicated 
and  cursed  before  the  people  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  and  the 
Archbishop,  sitting  as  judge  in  St.  Pauls  church,  after 
he  had  examined  into  the  fact,  imposed  this  penance  on 
the  Lord  Strange  and  his  lady,  who  fell  on  their  knees 
before  him,  and  humbly  begged  pardon  of  the  Church ; 
that  their  servants  in  their  shirts  and  drawers  onlv,  and 


CHICHELE.  585 

he  and  his  wife  with  tapers  in  their  hands,  should  go 
through  the  great  street  of  the  city  from  St.  Paul's  to 
St.  Dunstan  s,  ail  which  was  accordingly  perfonned  with 
great  solemnity;  and  when  tlie  Archbishop  purified 
St.  Dunstan 's  church,  the  Lady  Strange  filled  the  vessels 
with  water  ;  they  were  also  commanded  to  ofier  each  of 
them  a  pyx  and  altarcloth. 

When  Martin  the  Fifth  was  elected  Pope,  a  synod  was 
again  summoned  in  London  to  acknowledge  him.  In  this 
synod  also  Eobert  Gilbert,  doctor  of  divinity  and  warden 
of  Merton  College,  in  a  long  and  eloquent  oration,  having 
first  praised  the  university  of  Oxford,  laid  before  them  the 
miserable  condition  of  the  students  there,  who  after  many 
years  spent  in  the  study  of  the  sciences,  were  not  called 
thence  to  receive  any  reward  of  tlieir  labours,  but  were 
suffered  to  grow  old  in  the  university.  His  example  was 
followed  by  Thomas  Kington,  doctor  of  law,  and  advocate 
of  the  arches,  who  pleaded  the  same  cause  for  the  univer- 
sity of  Cambridge  ;  they  both  entreated  in  behalf  of  both 
universities,  that  by  a  decree  of  the  synod  some  care 
might  be  taken  to  prefer  them.  Whereupon  it  was  de- 
creed, that  all  livings  whose  yearly  income  amounted  to 
sixty  marks,  should  by  the  patrons  be  given  only  to 
doctors  of  divinity,  law^  or  physic  ;  those  that  were  worth 
fifty  marks  a  year  only  to  licentiates  in  those  faculties,  or 
bachelors  of  divinity  ;  and  those  which  did  not  exceed 
forty  marks  yearly  only  to  masters  of  arts  or  bachelors  of 
law.  This  related  to  those  benefices  to  which  was  annexed 
the  cure  of  souls ;  the  same  order  almost  was  taken  in 
those  which  are  called  sinecures,  according  to  their  respec- 
tive values.  It  was  further  added,  that  this  decree  should 
not  extend  to  those  who  had  taken  degrees  by  some  par- 
ticular gi'ace.  But  because  it  was  provided  by  the  statutes 
of  both  univei-sities  that  the  students  of  divinity  should 
take  no  degree  in  that  faculty,  till  they  had  commenced 
masters  of  arts,  and  that  no  student  of  canon  law  should 
be  created  doctor,  except  he  had  studied  the  civil  law,  this 
3e  2 


586  CmCHELE. 

condition  was  added  to  the  decree  in  favour  of  the  monks 
and  canon  lawyers,  that  it  should  not  be  in  force  unless 
those  statutes  were  repealed. 

For  which  pui-pose  Thomas  Felde,  Dean  of  Hereford, 
and  Thomas  Lentwardyn,  Chancellor  of  St.  Paul's  in  Lon- 
don, were  sent  by  the  synod  to  Oxford  to  treat  about  this 
affair  with  the  masters  of  arts,  by  whose  suffrages  the 
university  is  governed.  This  was  also  signified  to  the 
masters  of  arts  of  Cambridge  by  letters  from  the  synod ; 
but  they  all  refused  the  condition,  lest  they  should  be 
accounted  inferior  to  the  doctors  in  presentations  to 
livings ;  this  decree,  which  would  have  been  for  the  good 
of  both  universities,  was  at  that  time  laid  aside. 

When  the  synod  was  ended,  the  injurious  proceedings 
of  Martin  the  new  pope,  began  to  be  enquired  into.  For 
about  this  time  several  bishops  dying  in  England,  the 
pope  substituted  others  at  his  own  pleasure.  In  the  be- 
ginning of  the  next  year  he  made  Benedict  NicoU  Bishop 
of  St.  David's,  William  Barrow  Bishop  of  Bangor,  John 
Chandeler  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  and  Philip  Morgan  Bishop 
of  Worcester,  by  virtue  of  that  absolute  power  which  the 
popes  in  that  age  aiTogated  to  themselves  in  disposing  of 
the  bishoprics  of  England. 

The  clergy  here  had  been  quiet  for  some  time  during 
the  council  of  Constance  after  the  deposing  of  John  the 
Twenty- third.  For  the  Bishops  of  Salisbury  and  Hereford 
dying  at  that  time,  two  new  bishops  were  made  by  the 
free  election  of  both  those  chapters  ;  nor  could  the  whole 
college  of  cardinals  by  their  letters  written  from  Con- 
stance, prevail  upon  the  chapter  of  Salisbury  to  demand 
John  Bishop  of  Lichfield  the  King's  commissioner  at  the 
council  for  their  bishop. 

But  Pope  Martin  having  now  got  quiet  possession  of 
the  see  of  Rome,  became  far  more  insolent  than  his  pre- 
decessors ;  for  in  the  beginning  of  his  pontificate  he 
claimed  a  right  of  presentation  to  all  churches  whatsoever, 
reserved  to  himself  the  donation  of  all  bishoprics  by  pro- 


CHICHELE.  687 

vision,  disannulled  all  the  elections  of  bishops  made  by 
the  chapters,  and  within  two  years  time  made  thirteen 
bishops  in  the  province  of  Canterbury,  taking  his  oppor- 
tunity, while  the  King  was  engaged  in  the  war  with 
France,  to  venture  upon  an  action  which  Edward  the 
Third  and  Ptichard  the  Second  had  prohibited  by  most 
severe  laws  ;  he  also  made  his  nephew,  Prospero  Colonna, 
a  youth  of  fourteen  years  of  age.  Archdeacon  of  Canterbury 
by  provision,  to  whom  some  years  after,  to  gratify  the 
pope,  the  King  granted  the  profits  of  as  many  benefices 
in  England  as  did  not  exceed  fifty  marks  yearly.  Besides 
this,  complaints  were  made  of  his  promiscuous  uniting  of 
churches  (which  are  commonly  called  appropriations)  and 
consolidations,  of  his  easiness  in  granting  dispensations, 
by  which  priests  were  excused  from  residing  upon  their 
benefices,  and  laymen  were  permitted  to  hold  spiiitual 
preferments  ;  and  lastly,  that  there  was  no  notice  taken  of 
the  English  in  the  distribution  of  the  dignities  of  the 
court  of  Piome. 

The  King's  commissioners  at  the  council  of  Constance, 
John,  Bishop  of  Lichfield,  and  John  Polton,  Dean  of 
York,  were  ordered  to  represent  these  grievances  to  the 
new  pope,  who  soon  obtained  a  concession  of  some  pri- 
vileges to  the  English,  which  in  the  instrument  itself  are 
called  agreements  between  Martin  the  Fifth,  and  the 
Church  of  England.  These  were,  that  the  uniting  of 
parishes  should  not  depend  wholly  upon  the  popes 
pleasure,  but  that  the  bishops  of  the  several  dioceses 
should  have  power  to  examine  into  the  reason  of  it ;  that 
the  unions  of  churches  and  consolidations  of  vicarages 
made  in  the  time  of  the  schism,  should  be  made  void ; 
that  those  dispensations  granted  by  the  pope,  by  which 
priests  were  excused  from  residence,  and  laymen  and 
monks  were  made  capable  of  holding  livings,  should  be 
recalled ;  that  for  the  future  the  number  of  cardinals 
should  be  lessened,  and  that  they  should  be  promoted 
equally  out  of  all  nations,  and  that  the  English  should 
be  admitted  to  all  other  offices  in  the  court  of  Ptome, 


588  CHICHELE. 

About  the  same  time  the  King  sent  another  embassy  to 
the  pope,  to  desire  him  "  not  to  intermeddle  in  the  dis- 
posing of  those  livings  in  England,  the  presentation  of 
which  belonged  to  him  as  well  by  agreement  made 
between  the  Kings  of  England  and  the  popes,  as  by  his 
royal  prerogative  ;  that  no  Frenchmen  might  be  preferred 
to  any  bishoprics  or  livings  in  Aquitain,  or  any  other  of 
the  King's  dominions  in  France ;  that  dignities  and 
benefices  in  Ireland  might  be  conferred  only  upon  those 
that  understood  English;  and  that  the  bishops  of  that 
kingdom  in  their  respective  dioceses  might  take  care  that 
the  people  should  speak  only  English ;  that  for  the  future 
no  Frenchmen  might  be  admitted  into  the  monasteries 
founded  by  the  French  in  England,  and  that  the  pope 
would  grant  the  King  a  supply,  who  was  now  making  war 
in  defence  of  the  see  of  Rome,  out  of  the  money  that  was 
paid  to  the  treasury  of  Rome  in  England.  To  which 
requests,  when  the  pope  returned  no  favourable  answer, 
the  ambassadors  added,  that  if  he  did  not  speedily  satisfy 
their  demands,  they  were  commanded  to  declare  openly 
that  the  King  would  make  use  of  his  own  right  in  all 
these  things,  which  he  had  desired  of  him  not  out  of  neces- 
sity, but  only  to  shew  his  respect  to  his  holiness,  and  to 
put  in  a  public  protestation  concerning  these  matters  before 
the  whole  college  of  cardinals. 

The  French  also  and  the  Germans  protested  against 
these  provisions,  and  other  artifices  of  the  pope. 

The  Archbishop  again  joined  the  King  in  France, 
serving  him  as  confessor  and  counsellor,  and  being  em- 
ployed in  an  unsuccessful  negotiation  with  the  French 
for  peace.  But  such  was  his  activity,  that  we  find  him 
again  in  England  in  1419,  to  obtain  a  further  grant  of 
money  from  the  clergy  in  aid  of  the  war :  and  back  again 
in  France  in  1420,  to  congratulate  the  King  on  his 
marriage.  In  1421  Henry  V.  returned  in  triumph  to 
England,  and  the  Queen  was  crowned  by  Archbishop 
Chichele,  who  about  this  time  called  a  synod  at  London, 
and  obtained  of  them  a  tenth  for  the  service  of  the  King, 


CHICHELE.  589 

which  was  granted  upon  some  conditions  which  were  put 
in  by  WilUam  Lyndewood  in  the  name  of  the  proctors  for 
the  clergy.  They  were  these  :  that  the  King's  purveyors 
should  not  meddle  with  the  goods  of  the  clergy ;  that  they 
should  not  be  committed  to  prison,  but  upon  manifest 
conviction  of  theft  or  murder ;  that  for  all  other  crimes 
they  should  only  find  sureties  for  their  appearance  at 
their  trial,  but  should  not  be  imprisoned;  and  that  it 
should  be  felony  to  geld  a  priest ;  all  which  the  King  con- 
firmed in  this  parliament.  Beside  the  bishops  and  other 
prelates,  there  were  called  to  the  synod  by  the  Arch- 
bishop's mandate,  John  Castell,  chancellor  of  Oxford,  and 
John  Rykynghall,  chancellor  of  Cambridge,  both  doctors  of 
divinity,  who  in  two  eloquent  speeches  requested  in  behalf 
of  both  nniversities,  that  the  decree  made  in  the  synod 
four  years  before,  about  conferring  benefices  upon  those 
only  who  had  taken  degrees  in  the  universities  according 
to  the  value  of  the  several  livings,  and  the  dignity  of  the 
degrees  might  now  be  published  with  the  addition  of  the 
clause  formerly  put  in,  that  by  repealing  those  statutes  of 
the  universities,  monks  might  be  admitted  to  degrees  in 
divinity,  before  they  were  masters  of  arts,  and  priests 
might  commence  doctors  of  canon  law,  though  they  had 
not  studied  the  civil  law,  which  the  masters  of  arts  of 
both  universities  having  changed  their  minds,  had  at 
length  consented  to.  Moreover,  to  restrain  the  avarice  of 
bishops  and  archdeacons,  it  was  decreed,  that  no  bishop 
should  take  more  than  twelve  shillings  for  institution,  nor 
an  archdeacon  for  induction,  and  that  orders  should  be 
given  gratis.  Also  Simon  Terraminus,  one  of  the  popes 
receivers,  in  a  handsome  speech  desired  money  of  the 
synod  for  Pope  Martin,  but  they  gave  no  ear  to  him,  con- 
ceiving that  the  tenths,  annates,  and  other  perquisites 
which  were  paid  yearly  into  the  pope's  exchequer,  were 
more  than  sufficient  to  supply  his  necessities. 

The  Archbishop  having  dissolved  the  synod,  employed 
his  care  upon  that  jurisdiction  which  he  had  hitherto 
exercised  in  France,  that  so  the  same  peace  which  had 


590  CHICHELE. 

reconciled  the  two  kingdoms,  might  also  unite  both  the 
Churches.  To  which  end  he  recalled  those  judges  w^hom 
he  had  placed  in  most  of  those  dioceses  that  were  con- 
quered by  the  King,  and  by  his  letters  commanded  all  the 
people  of  France,  that  for  the  future  they  should  obey 
their  bisliops,  and  the  ordinaries  of  the  places  in  which 
they  lived. 

On  the  death  of  Henry  V.  the  Archbishop  was  appointed 
one  of  the  privy  council  to  the  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
appointed  protector,  but  he  now  retired  from  political  life 
to  his  province,  where  he  performed  the  duties  of  his 
function  with  great  diligence.  He  visited  the  dioceses  of 
Chichester,  Salisbury,  and  Lincoln,  by  his  metropolitical 
authority,  reversing  whatever  had  been  done  amiss  by  the 
ordinaries,  and  examining  into  the  faith  and  manners  of 
the  people.  At  Higham  Ferrars,  the  place  of  his  nativity, 
he  founded  a  college  and  a  hospital. 

The  Archbishop  endeavoured  to  act  as  mediator  between 
the  Duke  of  Gloucester  and  Henry  Beaufort,  Bishop  of 
"Winchester,  though  with  little  success.  The  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  son  of  John  of  G  aunt,  had  desired  a  cardinal's 
cap  in  the  reign  of  Henry  Y.,  but  the  Archbishop  pre- 
vented it,  shewing  by  a  letter  still  preserved  to  the  King, 
*'  that  the  power  of  the  Pope's  legates  did  derogate  very 
much  from  the  dignity  of  the  King,  from  the  laws  of  the 
land,  and  from  the  privileges  of  the  Church  of  England." 
But  the  point  was  carried  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  and 
the  Bishop  of  Winchest^jr  became  Cardinal  Beaufort. 

From  this  letter,  as  well  as  from  his  whole  history,  it 
will  be  seen  that  Archbishop  Chichele  was  a  vigorous 
defender  of  the  King's  authority,  and  the  rights  of  the 
kingdom  against  the  ambition  of  the  popes,  and  the 
oppressions  of  the  court  of  Rome  ;  by  which  at  this  very 
time  he  drew  upon  himself  the  heavy  displeasure  of 
Martin  the  Fifth.  For  the  university  of  Oxford  by  letters 
bearing  date  the  24th  of  July,  this  year,  interceded  for 
him  with  Pope  Martin ;  in  which,  after  they  had  given 
him  a  very  extraordinary  character,  calling  him  the  mirror 


CHICHELE.  591 

of  life,  the  light  of  maoners,  a  person  most  clear  to  the 
people  and  clergy,  a  golden  candlestick  set  up  in  the 
Church  of  England,  they  besought  him  that  he  would  not 
suffer  the  credit  of  so  eminent  a  prelate  to  be  blasted  by 
the  secret  calumnies  of  detractors;  to  which  puq^ose  also 
in  the  parliament  at  Westminster,  the  house  of  commons 
petitioned  the  King  to  send  an  ambassador  forthwith  to 
the  court  of  Rome,  to  intercede  with  the  Pope  in  behalf  of 
the  Archbishop,  who  had  incurred  his  displeasure  for 
opposing  the  excessive  power  of  the  court  of  Rome.  And 
indeed  it  was  but  reasonable  that  he,  who  for  promoting 
the  common  good  of  all,  and  maintaining  the  honour  of 
the  kingdom,  so  little  dreaded  the  Popes  anger,  should 
be  defended  by  the  public  authority. 

In  14*28,  Cardinal  Beaufort  having  gone  the  year  before 
into  France  to  receive  the  cardinals  hat,  returned  into 
England,  and  having  opened  liis  commission  in  the 
presence  of  Humphrey,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  the  protector, 
and  many  of  the  bishops  and  nobility,  Richard  Caudray, 
who  was  appointed  proctor  for  the  King  by  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester  and  the  privy  council,  expressly  declared,  that 
by  a  particular  prerogative  of  the  Kings  of  England, 
which  they  had  enjoyed  ever  since  the  memory  of  man, 
no  legate  from  the  Pope  could  come  into  England  without 
the  King's  leave ;  and  therefore  if  the  cardinal  of  Win- 
chester, by  virtue  of  his  legantine  office,  should  act  any 
thing  contrary  to  this  right  of  the  King's,  that  he  in  the 
King's  name  did  interpose,  and  disown  all  his  authority. 
Whereupon  the  cardinal  promised  openly  before  the  Duke 
of  Gloucester,  and  all  that  were  present,  that  he  would 
not  exercise  Jiis  office  of  legate  without  the  King's  leave, 
and  that  he  would  act  nothing  in  it  that  might  any  ways 
infringe  or  derogate  from  the  rights,  immunities,  and 
privileges  of  the  King  or  kingdom. 

The  synod  of  14'29  granted  a  tenth  so  readily  for  the 
French  war,  that  the  clergy  were  rewarded  by  an  act  of 
the  parliament  holden  at  this  time  at  Westminster,  by 
which  the  same  privilege  was  granted  to  the  clergy  which 


59-2  CHICHELE. 

the  members  of  the  house  of  commons  do  enjoy  when 
they  are  chosen  to  serve  in  parliament,  which  was,  that 
neither  they  nor  their  servants  should  be  arrested  while 
they  were  assembled  in  convocation,  nor  in  their  journey 
thither. 

But  Conzo  Zuolanus,  the  Pope's  nuncio,  came  often  to 
the  synod,  and  pleaded  in  behalf  of  the  Pope,  but  to  no 
purpose :  when  he  could  not  obtain  of  them  a  supply  for 
the  v^ar  with  the  Bohemians,  which  he  had  solicited  in  a 
long  and  pressing  oration,  he  produced  the  Pope's  letters 
before  the  synod,  in  which  he  signified  that  he  had 
imposed  a  tenth  upon  the  kingdom  of  England  for  the 
support  of  the  Bohemian  war;  which  so  incensed  the 
whole  synod,  that  they  absolutely  denied  to  grant  a  tenth. 
However,  at  the  importunity  of  the  Pope  they  gave  him 
eightpence  in  every  mark  out  of  all  benefices  according  to 
their  respective  values,  provided  that  this  grant  were  not 
contrary  to  the  King's  prerogative  and  the  laws  of  the 
land. 

After  this,  John  Jourdelay,  John  Galle,  Robert  Heggley, 
Ralph  Mungyn,  Thomas  Garenter,  all  men  in  orders, 
with  several  others,  were  brought  before  the  synod,  who 
were  accused  of  heresy,  for  holding  divers  corrupt  opinions 
concerning  the  sacrament  of  the  altar,  the  adoration  of 
images,  religious  pilgrimages,  and  the  invocation  of  saints; 
for  maintaining  that  the  Pope  was  antichrist,  and  not 
God's  vicegerent ;  that  the  divine  oracles  were  contained 
only  in  the  Scriptures,  and  not  in  the  legends  or  lives  of 
the  fathers ;  and  for  keeping  privately  by  them  several 
books  of  John  WicklifF  and  others,  concerning  matters  of 
religion,  written  in  the  vulgar  tongue.  All  which  opinions 
some  of  them  recanted  before  the  synod,  and  the  rest  were 
committed  to  prison.  After  them  one  Joan  Dertford 
beiug  questioned  about  the  same  tenets,  cleared  herself 
of  the  accusation  by  an  uncertain  answer ;  saying,  that 
she  had  learnt  only  the  Creed  and  Ten  Commandments, 
and  never  durst  meddle  with  the  profound  mysteries  of 
religion,  upon  which  she  was  committed  to  the  Bishop  of 


CHICHELE.  593 

Winchester's  vicar-general,  to  be  instructed  by  him.  The 
ordinaries  also  of  every  place  were  commanded  vigorously 
to  prosecute  those  that  dissented  from  the  established 
Church,  whom  they  called  by  the  invidious  names  of 
Wiclevists  and  Lollards,  and  whose  number  daily  in- 
creased, and  William  Lyndewood,  oflBcial,  and  Thomas 
Brown,  chancellor  of  Canterbury,  with  some  other  lawyers, 
both  canonists  and  civilians,  were  ordered  to  draw  up  a 
form  of  the  process  against  them. 

But  Pope  Martin  was  very  much  troubled  to  see  the 
power  of  the  keys  decrease  daily  in  England,  both  by  the 
denial  of  a  tenth  for  his  war  with  the  Bohemians,  and 
several  other  affronts  that  he  pretended  to  have  lately 
received.  For  some  years  before  this  having  by  his  bull 
of  provision  translated  Richard  Flemming,  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  to  the  see  of  York,  which  was  then  vacant  by  the 
death  of  the  Archbishop ;  the  dean  and  chapter  of  York 
opposed  his  entrance  into  their  church,  so  that  the  pope 
was  forced  by  a  contrary  bull  to  transfer  him  back  again 
to  the  see  of  Lincoln.  The  year  after  John  Opizanus,  the 
pope's  legate,  was  imprisoned  for  presuming,  by  virtue  of 
that  office,  to  gather  the  money  due  to  the  pope's  treasury, 
contrary  to  the  King's  command  ;  which  matter  the  pope 
by  his  letters  sharply  expostulated  with  the  Duke  of 
Bedford. 

He  would  certainly  have  called  to  mind  all  these  things, 
if  he  had  not  been  diverted  by  the  more  important  con- 
cerns of  the  council  of  Basil,  which  was  now  to  be  called. 
For  the  time  prefixed  for  the  assembling  of  it  was  now  at 
hand,  the  seventh  year  being  almost  expired  since  the  end 
of  the  last  council ;  for  which  cause  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  called  another  synod  at  London  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  next  year,  on  the  1 9th  of  Februaiy,  in  which 
delegates  were  chosen  to  be  sent  to  Basil,  and  twopence  in 
the  pound  was  allowed  them  out  of  all  the  revenues  of  the 
clergy.  Their  instructions  were,  to  desire  in  the  name  of 
the  Church  of  England,  that  a  stop  might  be  put  to  that 
VOL  in.  2  F 


594  CHICHELE. 

vast  number  of  dispensations  which  were  daily  granted, 
by  which  some  were  permitted  to  hold  two  livings  beside 
dignities,  others  had  leave  to  be  absent  from  their  cures, 
and  some,  who  were  scarce  at  age,  were  admitted  to  the 
highest  offices  in  the  Church ;  and  that  no  unions  of 
churches  might  be  made  but  where  there  were  convents 
within  the  bounds  of  the  parish. 

In  1431  the  new  pope  Eugenius  IV.  opened  the  coun- 
cil of  Basil,  in  which  the  question  relating  to  the  power  of 
the  pope  was  warmly  contested,  and  on  the  15th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1433,  it  was  determined,  that  a  general  council 
doth  derive  its  authority  immediately  from  Christ,  and 
that  the  pope  is  subject  to  it ;  that  he  hath  no  power  to 
remove  or  prorogue  it ;  that  if  the  pope  die  in  the  time  of 
their  session,  the  right  of  erecting  a  new  one  is  in  the 
council,  and  that  the  supreme  government  of  the  Church 
is  committed  to  a  council,  and  not  to  the  pope ;  and  by 
virtue  of  this  supreme  authority  they  constituted  Alfonsus, 
cardinal  of  St.  Eustace,  legate  of  Avignon,  and  forbad 
Eugenius  to  make  any  new  cardinals  before  the  end  of  the 
council. 

The  pope  being  alarmed  at  these  decrees,  by  his  edict 
removed  the  council  from  Basil  to  Bologna,  which  transla- 
tion the  fathers  by  a  contrary  edict  disanulled,  and  both  of 
them  by  their  letters  cited  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
one  to  Basil,  and  the  other  to  Bologna. 

Upon  this  the  Archbishop  called  a  synod  at  London  on 
the  15th  of  September,  and  advised  with  the  bishops  and 
prelates  what  course  was  to  be  taken  in  the  dissension 
between  the  council  and  the  pope ;  who  unanimously  con- 
cluded to  send  delegates  to  the  fathers  at  Basil,  and 
others  to  Pope  Eugenius,  to  compose  the  differences  on 
both  sides ;  to  whom  they  voted  a  penny  in  the  pound  out 
of  all  the  profits  of  the  clergy,  besides  the  twopence 
granted  in  the  former  synod. 

In  this  year  John  Kempe,  Archbishop  of  York,  was 
advanced  to  the  purple,  under  the  title  of  Cardinal  of 


CHICHELE.  595 

St.  Balbina.  Between  him  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury there  arose  a  very  sharp  dispute  about  prioiitj.  For 
in  the  parHament  holden  shortly  after  at  Westminster,  the 
Archbishop  of  York,  in  respect  of  his  cardinal's  dignity, 
claimed  precedence  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
which  he  on  the  other  side  rightly  maintained  to  belong 
to  him  by  the  ancient  prerogative  of  his  see. 

The  pope,  with  the  weakest  arguments  and  the  most 
gross  mis-statements  of  facts,  advocated  the  pretensions  of 
the  cardinal. 

The  differences  between  Eugenius  and  the  council  of 
Basil  gave  occasion  to  the  calling  another  synod  the  next 
year :  for  after  that  Eugenius  had  removed  the  council 
from  Basil  to  Bologna,  and  had  been  urged  in  vain  by 
the  fathers  at  Basil  to  revoke  his  decree,  they  commanded 
him  hy  their  edict  to  submit  to  the  council,  and  repair 
to  Basil  within  sixty  days,  otherwise  they  declared  that 
they  would  proceed  against  him  as  contumacious,  and 
divest  him  of  the  papacy. 

Whereupon,  in  a  synod  begun  at  London  the  7th  of 
November,  the  Archbishop  commanded  the  proctors  for 
the  clergy,  and  all  the  prelates  of  the  lower  house  to  con- 
sult and  determine  whether  the  pope  might  dissolve  a 
general  council  at  his  own  pleasure,  and  in  case  the 
fathers  at  Basil  should  depose  Eugenius,  and  set  up 
another  pope,  which  of  them  they  ought  to  obey  ?  To 
which  questions  some  days  after  Thomas  Bekyngton. 
official  of  the  Archbishop  s  court,  answered  in  the  name  of 
the  rest,  that  the  pope  by  his  sole  command  might  dis- 
solve a  council,  and  that  they  were  not  to  withdraw  their 
obedience  from  Eugenius,  though  another  pope  should  be 
created  at  Basil.  For  the  affections  of  a  great  many 
people  in  England  began  some  time  ago  to  be  alienated 
from  the  fathers  at  Basil,  upon  the  account  of  a  decree 
made  by  them,  which  took  away  the  custom  of  voting  by 
the  suffi-ages  of  every  nation,  and  referred  all  things  to 
the  determination  of  some  particular  delegates  ;  where- 
upon the  English  representatives  then  at  Basil,  Thomas, 


690  CHICHELE. 

Bishop  of  Worcester,  William,  prior  of  Norwich,  Thomas 
Brown,  dean  of  Salisbury,  Peter  Patrick,  chancellor,  and 
Robert  Borton,  precentor  of  Lincoln,  John  Sarjsbury, 
doctor  of  divinity,  aod  John  Symondisborough,  licentiate 
in  the  canon  law,  protested  against  it ;  which  was  also 
done  at  the  same  time  here  in  England,  by  William 
Lyndewood,  proctor  for  the  King,  who  repeated  a  set  form 
of  appeal,  in  which  he  protested  against  the  decree  as 
unjust,  for  that  this  way  of  voting  might  hereafter  be 
prejudicial  to  the  King,  and  the  rights  of  the  clergy  and 
parliament. 

After  this  the  Archbishop  consulted  with  the  synod 
about  nominating  more  delegates,  because  several  of  those 
that  were  sent  before  were  dead  at  Basil ;  and  eight 
doctors  of  divinity  and  both  laws  were  chosen,  who  were 
to  be  sent  to  Basil,  provided  the  fathers  would  admit  them 
without  imposing  upon  them  any  new  oath. 

The  remainder  of  the  Archbishop's  life  was  passed  in 
the  regular  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office,  in  main- 
taining the  rights  of  the  spiritual  courts  against  the 
King's  lawyers,  and  more  especially  in  founding  his  noble 
College  of  All  Souls  at  Oxford.  He  took  a  lively  interest 
in  this  work,  by  which  he  hoped  to  make  some  compensa- 
tion to  the  world  for  the  misery  he  had  caused  by  recom- 
mending the  French  war,  of  which  he  lived  to  witness  the 
disastrous  result.  In  144'2  he  expressed  a  wish  to  resign 
his  office,  being,  as  he  said,  "  heavy  laden,  aged,  infirm, 
and  weak  beyond  measure."  He  died  however  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1443.  History  has 
done  ample  justice  to  the  spirit  with  which  he  resisted 
the  assumed  power  of  the  pope  in  the  disposition  of 
ecclesiastical  preferments,  and  asserted  the  privileges  of 
the  English  Church.  Among  the  vindications  of  his  cha- 
racter from  the  imputations  thrown  upon  it  by  the  agents 
of  the  pope,  that  of  the  university  of  Oxford  is  the  most 
signal.  They  told  the  pope,  that  "  Chichele  stood  in  the 
sanctuary  of  God  as  a  firm  wall  that  heresy  could  not 
shake,  nor  simony  undermine,  and  that  he  was  the  darling 


CHILDREY.  697 

of  the  people,  and  the  foster-parent  of  the  clergy."  He 
expended  large  sums  in  adorning  the  cathedral  of  Canter- 
bury, founding  a  library  there,  and  in  adding  to  the  build- 
ings of  Lambeth  palace.  He  built  the  great  tower  at  the 
west  end  of  the  chapel,  called  the  Lollard's  Tower,  at  the 
top  of  which  is  a  prison  room.  Before  the  Reformation, 
the  Archbishops  had  prisons  for  ecclesiastical  offenders, 
who,  if  persons  of  rank,  were  kept  in  separate  apartments, 
and  used  to  eat  at  the  Archbishop's  table. — Buck.  Landon. 


CHILDREY,    JOSHUA. 

Joshua  Childeey  was  bom  in  Kent,  in  1623,  and 
educated  at  Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  of  which  house  he 
became  one  of  the  clerks,  till  driven  from  the  university 
by  the  Eebellion.  He  then  taiJght  school  at  Feversham  ; 
but  at  the  Restoration  he  was  created  doctor  of  divinity, 
aud  obtained  the  living  of  Up  way,  in  Dorsetshire,  and  the 
Archdeaconry  of  Salisbury.  He  died  in  1670.  His  works 
are — 1.  Indago  Astrologica,  4to.  2.  Syzygiasticon  instau- 
ratum,  or  an  Epheraeris  of  the  Places  and  Aspects  of 
the  Planets,  8vo.  3.  Britannia  Baconica,  or  the  natural 
rarities  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales,  8vo. —  Wood. 


END  OF  THE  THIRD  VOLUME. 


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